Because I Am Empty
by Kelsey TVS
Summary: After Tara's death and Willow's return from darkness, she felt more alone than ever. She couldn't let her love go, but there was someone else she found herself in love with. And it wasn't Kennedy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Slowly, the grass stems shifted to make room. The new flower unfolded, pushing the moonlit grass out of its way. It was a sunflower; it towered over the even stretch of graveyard and unfurled its yellow petals, which swayed back and forth, even though there was no wind.

"A whole summer of rehab and all you learned was this? How to grow flowers without light?" Willow started, but kept her balance on the tombstone she was sitting on. She had not heard the footsteps behind her.

"Oh, Faith." She breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"Patrolling." Faith replied, hefting the axe she was carrying. "Blondie took Molly, Annabelle and Kennedy out to Restfield to dust some vamps. So I came here. What are you—oh." She spotted the grave across from where Willow was sitting. There were three weathered pebbles set on top of the headstone. The name on it read 'Tara Mclay'.

"Tara." Willow said, looking down into her lap. The sunflower slipped back into the earth. Faith dropped her gaze from Willow, letting the witch mourn.

"I was the first one to meet her." Faith said quietly after a few minutes. Willow looked up, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"What?"

"At the Bronze." Faith said. "You came to introduce her to Buffy. Only it wasn't Buffy. It was me. She was…she was nice. I liked her."

"She said you were mean." Faith let out a small laugh.

"Well, I was back then, wasn't I?" Willow shifted a little on the headstone that she was sitting on. Faith moved over to sit beside her. Together they looked down at the grave. "I was the first one to know, too. About you, and about her. You hadn't told me, or your friends, but I knew."

"How?" Willow's voice came out as though she was having trouble forming the words.

"I dunno. I'm not much of a romantic or whatever, but there was something in how you two looked at each other. I dunno." Faith shrugged. She'd been with a lot of guys, but never loved a single one before. _Why the hell am I so sad? I hardly knew the chick._ Giving her head a little shake, she stood up and waved to Willow, trying to keep her cool, as she so often did. "Well, I gotta go. Vamps to kill, y'know." She lifted her axe over her shoulder and marched off, leaving the redhead alone next to her dead love.

Willow watched Faith as she walked off. She'd always hated Faith. She betrayed them, allied with the Mayor, killed people, threatened Willow herself, fought Buffy and lost, come back only to cause mayhem between Buffy and Riley, left again, gone to prison, broken out and come back. Of all the people to come and help them with the battle for the world, Faith was the last person Willow expected to help, and yet here she was. One more glance at Tara's grave drove all thought of Faith form Willow's mind. She looked up at the stars, imagining Tara's face sparkling down at her. She remembered when she and Tara had lay on the roof, watching the stars, making up names for constellations. Willow tried to find some of them in the stars, but everything was blurred now. Tears trickled form her eyes and down her face in to her ears, tickling them. She looked back down and broke apart; her jeans growing dark spots on them from her tears.

"I told you, more than a year ago." She gasped. "That I would always find you. Always. But I've lost you again, and I can't find you anymore. And now I'm lost! Oh baby, I'm so lost without you! Tara, I can't find you anymore! I can't even find myself!"

She dropped off the headstone and fell to her knees on top of Tara's grave. She stretched out her hands and placed her palms on Tara's cold gravestone, wishing she could feel the warmth of Tara's skin. Slumping sideways, she let the tears flow without trying to stop them. Laying six feet above the empty shell of her girlfriend, Willow closed her eyes, until the painful world fell away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Pretty girl…pretty hair….pretty, pretty, pre—"

"Nyaaah!" Willow awoke to one of the more terrifying this she had ever been woken by: some creepy vampire lying next to her, stroking her hair. With a yelp, she scrambled out of his grip and stood up. The sun wasn't up yet, but she could see a line of orangey pink along the horizon. Realizing she hadn't brought any stakes with her, Willow was racking her brains for a spell that could help her when someone grabbed the vamp by the back of his leather jacket and wrenched him away from Willow.

"You wouldn't want that one, fang boy." Said the dark-haired woman as she flung the vamp to the ground and stepped over him so she had a foot on either side of his hips. "She's a lesbian, moron."

"Darn tootin'!" Willow called out to the struggling vampire. "I'm as gay as…something really gay!" She shouted, the panic fading now. "I'm the frickin' Ellen Degeneres of Wiccans! That's right, buster, I'm so gay, that—"

"Willow?" Faith interrupted her as she stepped away from the dust swishing in the wind. "Willow, he's gone now. Did he get you?" Willow reached up to her neck and felt.

"No. But I need to go home and wash my hair about seven times, and then do a cleansing spell of some sort." She ran her fingers through her flaming hair. There was dirt there from lying on the ground all night, but it didn't bother her. Faith laughed and turned away.

"See you."

"Umm, yeah. Thanks for the…you know."

"S'cool." Faith sad, without looking back. "You're five by five, then?"

"I—yeah. Mostly. More like five by four. Or four by four." Dusting herself off, she walked towards the graveyard exit. Still shaken, she almost forgot to look back at Tara's grave.

When Willow returned to the Summers house, she saw that it was already full of people. Xander and Anya were probably both at their apartments, but Dawn was upstairs in her room with Molly, Annabelle was on the floor in the living room, and Kennedy was upstairs in Willow's room. When the three Potentials had arrived to days ago, Kennedy had arranged it so she was sleeping with Willow. However, Willow had always stayed in the bathroom 'brushing her teeth' or delayed her own bedtime until Kennedy fell asleep, and then she would either take a sleeping bag somewhere else, or, like tonight, go to visit Tara.

Willow knew full well that Kennedy liked her, but she had been trying to make it as clear as possible to the Potential slayer that she was not interested. Sure enough, when Willow went upstairs to her room, she saw Kennedy stretched out under the blankets, mouth wide open. She went over to her dresser and changed her clothes. She was dragging a comb through her matted hair when the dark haired girl sat up.

"You went somewhere else last night." She accused. "I heard you leave. I'm not an idiot, you know." Willow put down her comb.

"So what if I did. I can go where I like." An unexpected anger was filling her. Something inside the redhead's mind was saying that this girl was trying to take her away form Tara, and Willow knew she would not allow that to happen.

"It's dangerous out there. Ubervamps, or whatever Buffy called them…there's probably more."

"I can take care of myself." Willow clenched her teeth and took a breath. She needed to be mature, she kept telling herself. She needed to keep her cool. She moved over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Kennedy, look. I know what you're trying to do."

"Good. No need for secrets, then. You wanna go for a drink sometime?"

"No! God, Kennedy, what the hell is this?" _Okay, okay, deep breath, stay clam. _"No. It's too…too soon, okay?"

"Tara, isn't it?"

"How do you—"

"Dawn told me. She said she died, and you went bad, got your revenge, and had to go away."

"Yes, okay, that's true. But do you really think I'm just going to move on four months later? She was the love of my life, and now…I can't…I won't. Not now. Not with you." Willow fiddled with the zipper on her pocket and stood up. She'd had enough. Kennedy needed to learn that she was not letting go of Tara that easily, and that she would not share a bed with her. Not ever.

"So you're never going to date anyone ever again?" Kennedy barked after her. Willow dearly wanted to whip around and scream at this insolent little girl, but tried to hold herself together. She did not answer, but simply walked away, towards the sound of the door opening as Faith, Buffy and the other Potentials returned.

"We got anything new on our big bad?" Faith plopped down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table.

"Shoes, Faith." Giles barely looked up from the Watchers' Council files he was scanning through in the chair opposite.

"Sorry." Faith kicked off her muddy boots and placed her sock feet back on the table. "So…anything?"

"I don't know yet. Most of this isn't in English." Giles pulled off his glasses and pressed his fingertips to his forehead. "It's too early for me to concentrate, anyway. We've all been awake for hours."

"I can make coffee." Both of them looked up as Willow came down the stairs, her shoes making louder, more stompy sounds than was necessary.

"Willow." Giles called to her as the witch made to turn into the kitchen. "Is everything all right?"

"I yeah…no, it's just…nothing. It's nothing."

"Still four by four, then?" asked Faith, cracking a grin. Willow gave a weak smile too and nodded. "Coffee sounds cool, though." She continued, "But none for the little Brit girls. They're off the walls with the time zones or whatever. They were patrolling all last night, and they aren't even tired. You think we could knock them out with something? Cold medicine or somethin'?"

The next week or so passed in a complete blur. More Potentials arrived, one of the British ones scampered and got killed, another one turned out to be The First, and now they were all hidden inside the boarded up Summers house, waiting for the Ubervamp to show.

"Willow, you ready?" Buffy was gripping the arm of her best friend, while the witch started muttering in some language Faith didn't recognize. With a bang, the door flew open and the Turok-Han burst over the threshold. Faith glanced over at Willow. A pool of black had spread over her eyes and her fists were clenched.

"It's hurting her!" Kennedy cried. She made to step forward, but Xander threw out his arm.

"Don't." He said.

"How do you know she can take it!" Vi said, her voice getting more and more high-pitched with fear.

"Hey, Willow's tougher than you might think." Faith said to the little read-haired Potential. "Plus, I read this article about how redheads actually have higher pain tolerances than other people."

"So she can take it?" Vi asked.

"Yeah. Also, you could be tortured by The First, and you would stay conscious a lot longer than other people." Faith looked down at her. Vi whimpered.

"Faith!" Buffy shouted. "Not helping!"

"Right. Okay, girls, it's time to move."

_Author's Note: I know the timeline isn't perfectly canon in this story, but the way I set it up is as if Faith arrived with Giles, Kennedy, Molly and Annabelle._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Come on, come on!" Faith was pulling one of the newest Potentials by the arm, trying to get her to move as the Turok-Han followed then down the street.

"I can't!" She gasped. "I can't run any more!"

"Damn." Faith hissed, as the Ubervamps roars grew louder. She bent over and lifted the girl up. It was lucky Faith wasn't carrying any weapons, because she could run full speed with the girl in her arms. Once they caught up to the others, Buffy was already telling everyone else the plan.

"—Split up." She was saying. "Xander, Willow, take them to a safe place. Go!" Willow herded to girls in front of her, so they could follow Xander. Faith set down the Potential she was carrying, and the girl sprinted off after the others. Now it was just Buffy and Faith.

"B," Faith started.

"Faith, go! Willow, Xander and I had a plan! We know what's going on. The best thing you can do is to just follow them."

"What? B, you came up with a plan and didn't tell me?"

"We need the girls to see me kill the Ubervamp thing."

"I get that, but, B, what the hell!? You can't just—" Faith felt her anger rising inside of her. Ever since she had arrived, everyone had kept her at a distance. Giles, Willow and Spike had been the nicest about it, and she even felt that they were starting to tolerate her. Faith knew Buffy would always hate her, but she had hoped that Little Miss Heroics would at least keep her in the loop.

"Faith!" Buffy swung around to look her in the eyes. "Last time I checked, I was the one in charge, here."

"Not for too long, I hope." Faith started to turn away. She would rather follow the others than hang out with B.

"What is that supposed to—" The rest of her sentence was cut off by a loud growl. Buffy turned to see the Turok-Han on the other end of the road. She glanced back at Faith, but saw only a dark stretch of road. She had gone off to the others.

"Up here. Come on, spread out!" Xander was helping some of the girls climb onto the structure of the unfinished public library. Faith shimmied up after Rona and sat on one of the bars. Willow was moving through the girls, spreading them out so they could all see what would happen when Buffy brought eh vamp to them. She stopped near Faith and leaned over the railing to see the Turok-han prowling into the wide open lot.

"Hey, Willow," Faith started. The witch turned to her.

"What?"

"Why didn't you or Xander or B tell me about this plan to—"

"Buffy!" Kennedy, who was a few feet away, saw Buffy take a hard hit to the jaw and hefted her crossbow.

"Kennedy, no!" Willow shouted, moving around Faith and wrenching the crossbow out of the Potential's hands.

The young slayer glowered at her and made to snatch it back, but Faith stepped in and pushed her away.

"You seem to have a big problem with authority." She said. "You've been told not to help B. You wanna disobey the chain of command? Do it, and see what happens to you." She took the crossbow from Willow and shoved in at Kennedy's chest and turned around in time to see the back of Buffy's head smash into the railing she'd been sitting on moments before.

For a few more excruciating minutes, Faith watched the fight between Buffy and the Turok-Han. Finally, with a line of barbed wire, the monster turned to dust, and everyone watching let out a collective breath.

"Damn…" Faith breathed. Andrew let out a cheer and punched the air with both fists, and in doing so lost his balance and toppled to the ground. Faith and the others followed him, albeit a little more gracefully.

On the walk back to the house, Faith found herself once again in between Kennedy and Willow. Kennedy kept her head high, and often shot angry glances over at Faith.

"Faith." Willow said. Glad for something to allow her to look away from the angry Potential, Faith turned.

"Yeah?"

"What was it you started saying to me?"

"What? Oh, yeah, no...it was just that I wanted to know why I was never filled in on the plan." She shoved her hands into her leather pockets and scuffed her shoes before looking over at Willow.

"Oh. Well, I don't know. I just think Buffy wanted to keep the number of people knowing about it limited. She didn't tell Dawn, or Andrew." Faith nodded slowly. "Are you okay?" Willow asked.

"No, I'm fine. Just feelin' a little out-of-the-loopy. But I've always been like that, haven't I?"

"Faith, no."

"S'okay." She shook her head a little as they strode up the walkway to Buffy's house. "Doesn't matter much, I just- hey, Giles is back!"

Giles was indeed sitting on the couch with a new Potential who stood up and said hello to them all. Or at least that's what Faith suspected she said, because she spoke in Chinese. Faith gave her a little wave and made to go upstairs but Giles called out to them.

"Can I talk to everyone for a moment?"

"What's up, G?" Faith asked, slumping in an armchair and set her feet on the coffee table.

"Faith, _shoes!"_ Giles said. Sighing, Faith dropped her feet to the floor.

"Giles, what's going on?" Xander joined them and pulled up a chair, but Giles didn't speak until Buffy had sat down.

"I want to take the Potentials out to the desert. To take the Slayer quest."

"Sounds fine." Buffy said. "Do you need me to come?"

"No, I just wanted your opinion. But I was wondering if Faith wanted to accompany us. She hasn't gone there yet."

"I'm good, G. Really." Faith broke in before Buffy could answer for her. "I don't need to go." She leaned back and rested her heels on the table. Giles stood up and began to pace.

"Are you quite sure?" He asked as he walked by her, pushing her feet off the table as he spoke.

"I'm sure. I don't need anything from my Slayer power except the fighty stuff. I'm cool."

"The coolest." Buffy muttered from over by the door. "And a murderer." Faith looked over at her, knowing full well that Buffy resented her for hitting it off with the Potentials a lot better than she had.

The next morning Faith was woken by the sounds of five sets of teenage feet pattering down the stairs and out into the car. She stayed curled up inside her sleeping bag on the floor of Willow's room until she heard the car drive away.

"How're you feeling?" The door opened and Faith's eyes flickered open to see Willow entering the room with an extra blanket. Faith wondered what she was talking about until she sat up and noticed the form of Kennedy lying in the bed.

"Still sick." Wheezed Kennedy. Faith stood up and ran her fingers through her hair as the Potential reached out to touch Willow's arm. Willow jerked away and unfolded the blanket. She set it over Kennedy rather carelessly and left the room in a hurry. Faith slipped in to the bathroom to change and when she came back out she saw Kennedy still staring at the open door.

"You're going to have to get over her." Faith said, crossing the room to leave. "She doesn't like you, and you're gonna have to just deal with that." She seemed to have struck a nerve. Kennedy leapt out of bed with surprising agility for a sick girl and got right up in Faith's face.

"You don't know anything about Willow. You stay the hell away from her." Faith frowned. Did Kennedy actually think that she, Faith, was…no. That couldn't be what was going on. "You hear me?" Kennedy snarled, brining Faith out of her thoughts. "You will not come near her. Ever." Giving a little snort of impatience, Faith made to step around her, but Kennedy moved in front of her again. Faith raised her eyebrows, and when the Potential did not move, Faith grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her. Lucky for Kennedy, she landed on the bed, but she still glared at Faith, hair all over the place, one shoulder of her fancy nightdress hanging off.

"You don't know the first thing about Red. If you did, you'd know to back off. Tara was the love of that woman's life, and you will not take that away from her. If you try, I will stop you. I'm not going to move in on your territory, if that's what you're thinking. Willow will never be your territory or mine. She's smarter than that." She paused and let Kennedy take this in with a scowl and a huffy breath. "Plus, you know, I'm not a lesbian."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You were never sick!" Willow glared at Kennedy, holding the warm cup of tea, watching the slayer pull on a pair of boots. "You're gonna be in so much trouble! Xander's going to have to drive you out to the desert—"

"Willow!" Kennedy cut across her. Willow set the tea down on the bedside table and listened to Kennedy explain about some 'mission' she had. For a moment she considered just walking away, but Kennedy seemed serious.

"Fine, I'll come." Kennedy jumped up and flounced out the door. Willow followed, grabbing a jacket as she went. As they passed the living room, Faith looked up from where she was flipping through Council files.

Kennedy swept out the door and marched across the grass. "You coming?" She called back to Willow. Willow shot a glance at Faith, who was so absorbed she hadn't seen them.

"Yeah." She said in a bit of a confused voice. "I'm coming."

Willow walked with Kennedy in silence all the way to the Bronze. "This is your mission? The Bronze? Is a vampire gang coming here to wreak havoc?" She asked as they opened the heavy door.

"Something like that." Kennedy pointed to an empty table. "Wait there, I'll be back soon." Wondering what was going on Willow sat down on the stool and gazed around. The band was hammering away on their instruments, people were dancing, talking and laughing, a familiar clacking came from the pool table and people were all around Willow, carrying plastic cups and plates of hot wings. After a while, Kennedy returned with two fancy, tropical drinks. She set one in front of Willow.

"Kennedy." Willow said, starting to catch on. "What are you doing? What kind of mission is this?"

"The kind where I get to know Willow better." She batted her dark eyelashes at her. Willow got off her stool and began to walk away. "Willow!" Kennedy called out. Willow turned back around.

"What?"

"Come on, just stay for one drink?" Willow cocked her head to one side and stared at the young slayer. "You're sexy when you pout." That automatically made anger flicker inside the witch.

"Kennedy," She said hotly. "What are you doing? What is this? Is this…oh Goddess. Is this a _date?"_

"Somethin' like that." Kennedy said, grinning.

"No! God, no!" People were starting to stare now, but Willow did not care. "I've sent you signals, signs, telegrams, I've shot a frickin' flare gun in your direction! You just don't get it, do you?" Willow was not aware that she was shouting at the top of her voice, or that everyone in the Bronze had stopped and formed a ring around them. The band had even stopped playing. "Well, I'm going to give you the clear message right now. I am not interested." Kennedy came forward, and Willow whipped around and marched out of the Bronze, half wishing she had screamed her last sentence. Thankfully, Kennedy did not follow her.

Willow had no desire to go home and tell whoever was still there what had happened. She would let Kennedy go home first and tell them all. Instead, Willow directed her feet to one of the twelve cemeteries Sunnydale was home to. She wove her way down a familiar path through all the graves, until the one she was looking for. Sitting down on the grass in front of Tara's grave, she looked up at the sky. _Why _did Kennedy have to make everything more complicated?

"Don't blame the Slayer-wannabe." A voice came from behind her. Willow did not bother to whip around. She recognized the voice. "You're pretty hard to resist."

"What are you doing here? Again."

"Same thing you are. Well, not actually. I didn't come to visit her. That line just sounds cool whenever they say it in the movies." Willow let out a small laugh. She heard Faith walk up until she was fairly close behind her. "What happened?" The dark haired Slayer asked.

"Nothing."

"Well, clearly." There was both humor and pity in Faith's voice.

"No. I just…"

"Don't want to talk about it." Faith said. "I get that. There's a helluva lotta stuff I don't like people to hear either. To be perfectly honest, I've never told anyone squat about jack. Or squat about Jack."

"What?"

"Jack. He was this guy with a bullwhip." Willow turned around and starred up at her. "You don't want to know."

"I'm fairly certain I don't." After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "I never told anyone about anything Tara and I did, either. I'm pretty sure the whole concept kinda wigged Buffy out. And it's not like I'm going to talk to Xander about anything."

"Well, you're talking to me." Faith sat down next to Willow, but was careful to not sit on Tara's grave. She stayed a little off to the side.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why that is."

"Sometimes I guess it's easier to talk to someone you don't know so well. Someone outside."

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Uhh." Faith smiled a little. "Some cheesy self-help magazine they gave us in prison."

"Well, I guess—" Willow cut herself off, suddenly noticing something. "Faith?"

"Yeah-huh?" Faith had been scraping a bit off dirt off the bottom of her shoe. She paused and looked up.

"You still haven't told me why you're here."

"Patrolling. Getting outta the house. Away from Buffy and everything." Willow nodded slowly, thinking. Suddenly, she realized something else.

"I didn't hear your footsteps."

"What?"

"When you spoke, you were almost right behind me, but I didn't hear you walk up."

Faith stood up very quickly. "Well, you know me. Quiet as a…really quiet mouse." Willow stood, too.

"Faith…were you waiting for me here?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What? Will, you're trippn'."

"Am I?" Willow stared at the Slayer, who was backing away, fast.

"Well, yeah. Why would I be waiting for you?"

"Is there any other reason you were hanging around Tara's grave?"

"There are plenty of vamps, here." Faith said warily. "Sunndy D, remember? Got a Hellmouth below and vamps above."

"Faith." Willow came forward and grabbed Faith's arm. "Tell me what's going on!" Faith sighed and threw up her hands.

"Fine." She plopped down onto the grass and leaned against a headstone. Willow sat across from her, on Tara's grave, and waited expectantly. Faith took a breath. "I saw you leave the house with Kennedy. I couldn't believe that girl's nerve. Not after I told her not to—"

"Told her?" Willow jumped in. Faith groaned.

"You're a sharp one. But yeah, the other day I told her to stay away from you, that it would never happen, and that you would always belong to Tara. But then I saw you two leaving, and I guess I was wrong."

"You…you said that?" Willow looked down, picking her fingernails to give herself something to do.

"Yeah."

"But then, why did you come here?"

"I dunno." Faith was staring up at the sky, clearly trying to avoid the redhead's gaze. "I guess this is where I feel, I don't know, maybe…close, I guess."

"Close?" Willow was confused. She's never seen this side of Faith before. She never knew it had existed. "Close to what?" Faith definitely wasn't meeting her eyes, but staring at her nose.

"I dunno." Faith said again. "Maybe…you. Or something. Probably the 'or something part.'"

"Me?" Willow asked. Yes, that was definitely panic in her voice there. Faith had gotten to her feet, and Willow quickly followed. "Why would you want to be—"

"I don't know, Willow, okay!?" Faith burst out. "I don't know what I'm doing! I just…seeing you with Kennedy made me mad. I don't know why!"

"You don't?" Willow wasn't sure what the feeling was that was burning inside of her. Still panic? Surprise? Fear? She couldn't pinpoint it. "Because I think it's pretty clear."

"Yeah." Faith's voice had become quiet again. Willow waited for her to say something else, but Faith stayed silent.

"I-I can't deal with this right now." Willow said, running her fingers through her hair. "I need to go away now."

"No." Faith put out an arm to stop her. "You stay. I'll go. I need to…I need to think about things." She turned away, and Willow slowly sat back down again. She watched Faith walk away until she suddenly stopped.

"Willow?"

"What?"

"You're here, aren't you?" Faith turned back around, staring at Willow as though seeing her for the first time. A little thrown, Willow glanced around.

"Yes, I appear to be. Point?"

"Point is, you aren't with Kennedy." Was that hope in Faith's voice? Relief? Something else?

"No. No I'm not."

"Okay." Faith cleared her voice and clapped her hands together awkwardly as she turned back away. "Carry on, then."

Faith mentally scolded herself all the way back to Revello Drive. What the hell had she been doing the last few days? What was this thing with Willow? Willow…even thinking the name made her warm inside. She quickly shook it off. Love was a weakness, like trust, and like everything else Faith had rarely ever let herself feel. She had only loved one person in all her life and that guy had turned into a giant snake. But was this love for Willow? Yeah, sure, they were friends, and yeah, Will was cool, but Faith didn't want her. First of all, doing it with a girl? Yeah, she'd danced with girls at clubs and stuff, but actually getting groinal? Not an option.

When she went through the front door, the house was dark and silent, two things that had been so rare lately. With the Potentials and Giles off and about in the desert, and Buffy and Spike—well, she didn't know where they were. She also had no clue where Xander, Anya, Dawn and Andrew were, and did not particularly care.

"Hello?" She called out. There was no reply, and even though she knew she was alone she called out "Anybody home?" She guessed it was just a habit. Even when she was living alone, she would call out, as though hoping to hear a familiar voice calling back. Imagining it made life seem a little less lonely sometimes. But not now. Now she wanted nothing more than to be alone, and she seemed to have gotten her wish.

She draped her jean jacket over the banister and walked through the kitchen and into the basement. Since Spike was not there, she rolled up the sleeves of her black top and turned on the punching bag hanging from the ceiling.

She did not know how long she was down there; all she focused on was the sweat running down her face, the rhythmic thwacking of her fists and feet on the bag, her breath coming in grunts. The backs of her fingers were growing redder and redder, but her Slayer powers stopped her from feeling the pain. The chain of the bag jingled, dust rose form it in little clouds. Thwack, thwack, thwack, backhand hit, front kick, roundhouse, punch, punch, side kick…Faith was so occupied that she never realized that the front door did not open again. Neither Willow, nor Kennedy had returned to the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Over the next few days, Willow tried to act normal, but it was harder than she thought. She found herself staring at the dark-haired Slayer during meetings, making excuses to accompany her on patrol, admiring her strength and skill. On most nights they went out patrolling. They only ever went to Tara's graveyard and the one next to it, but they dusted a good number of vamps. Well, Faith dusted them. Willow mostly watched, but that would change tonight, or so Faith said.

"What?" Willow said, tripping over a stray root in the graveyard neighboring Tara's. She stared at Faith.

"You heard me. Tonight, you're gonna do more than sit around and let me do the heavy lifting." Faith held up her stake. Willow shook her head.

"Nuh-uh. I mean, I've staked a few vampires here and there, but I'm really not a fighter. I can't hold my own against one solo. Well, Tara and I were working on a spell a couple years ago to create sunlight, but I never finished it. There was this thing, with Anya and a troll—"

"Exactly." Faith said, grinning. She tossed her stake aside. "You're not going to fight, you're going to use magic. That's your strength. You're right when you say you ain't a fighter, but that doesn't mean you can't fight."

"What-Faith, no! I can't. I can't do magic." She was shaking her head vigorously. Faith stepped closer, giving her a weak smile. "I've told you what'll happen." Willow was getting her panic-voice now. "Remember? Do you remember two days ago, when we had to get Buffy out of that portal? And how I sucked the energy out of Anya and Kennedy? You were in the room, right?"

"Actually, I wasn't. I went to get snacks form the kitchen after you said it could take a while. Also, I didn't want to be in the room with bitch junior."

"Who, Kennedy?" Kennedy had been angry with Willow ever since the date fiasco, but Willow really didn't care. The Potential had been trying to spend time with her lately, joining in on the Scooby meetings and what not. It was clear form day one that Faith did not approve of this.

"Yes. But Will, come on. I know you have this in you. Magic is your strength, it's your life. I need to save the world by kicking and punching, you need to save it by using magic."

"I almost destroyed it by magic!" Faith smiled again and reached out to touch her arm.

"Come on. I'm here. I'll kill you if you go bad." Willow gave a weak laugh.

"I still don't—"

"Can't you two talk about something interesting?" a voice came from behind a nearby tree. "My viewers are falling asleep."

"Andrew!" both girls shouted and whirled around, as he came out into the open, clutching his camera.

"What the hell are you doing here, weasel?" Faith scooped up her stake and stepped forward.

"Whoa, hey, let's not lose our heads!" Andrew said, clacking the video screen on his camera shut. And holding up his hands. "I followed you to get some good shots of vamp fights, but this place seems pretty quie-Aaaahh!"

"Thanks goddess." Willow muttered as a vampire flew out of nowhere and tackled Andrew. Faith swept forward at once, and Willow tucked her hands into her pockets and watched. Judging by the fact that this vamp was in a filthy suit, he was probably fresh form the grave. Thinking this, Willow reminded herself of cookies, being fresh form the oven. She stifled a giggle.

After a minute or so, Willow realized that Faith was really beating on this guy hard. Andrew had scrambled away and picked up his camera. He was filming the Slayer as she beat the vamp nearly unconscious, and then picked him up. She held him form behind, pinning down his arms, and then she turned his to face Willow.

"Go." She said. "Do it. Burn him." Willow hesitated. Faith raised her voice. "Come on Will, you can do this, okay? I've got him, he can't move a muscle. Kill him; I know you can do this!" She kept up a steady stream of encouragement while she held tight to the struggling vamp. She was holding the guy like a shield, and peered over his shoulder. Willow had her eyes closed and was whispering something. "Come on, Will." Faith murmured to herself. "Do it now…" Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of orange light. Faith let go of the vampire as his suit went up in flames. She staggered away form him and over to Willow, whose hair was getting steadily blacker. She had her fists balled and her face tight, and was glaring at the flaming vampire, who screamed and screamed until he shattered into dust.

Willow released the spell as soon as the vampire was gone. She nearly fell backward. The sunlight spell faded away, but her energy was not restored. She grasped the trunk of a tree and lowered herself to the ground. Her hair was red again, and she looked up as Faith came rushing over.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Faith said, crouching down next to the witch. "That was awesome, Willow."

"Yeah…so cool!" Andrew sidled up, staring at the spot where the vampire had dusted. He seemed a little in awe. "And I totally got that on film!"

Willow got to her feet and shook her head to clear it. "I won't be trying that again soon."

"Sure you will!" Faith nudged her with her shoulder. "That was pretty sweet. You're gonna do it again tomorrow night, and you're gonna get better, and you're gonna learnt to keep your hair red." Willow smiled as they began to walk back to Revello Drive.

"I dunno. That was a pretty big step."

"Hell yeah it was! And you took it." Faith moved in front of Willow, cutting her off. "You took that jump, you pulled through, and now you're doing fine." At the exit to the graveyard, Willow went one way, toward the graveyard where Tara lay, and Faith went the other, to go back to the Summer's house, which was what they did every few nights. Andrew hovered in between, clearly wonder in which way to go. He started after Willow, holding up his camera hopefully, but Faith swung around, grabbed him by the back of his jacket and dragged him away from the witch, who was kneeling on the ground now, a ways away.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So, am I to understand that four years ago you tamed up with Buffy's arch nemesises…nemesis, shot her lover with a poison arrow, got into an epic battle on a rooftop that resulted in a knife in your stomach and you in a coma for eight months?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"And after you woke up, you attacked Buffy's mother, fought with the blonde Slayer herself, switched bodies with her to wreak havoc amongst her friends, her Watcher and her new boyfriend."

"Okay, but there were factors—"

"And after this, you hitched a ride to Los Angeles, to attach her previous lover, whom you had tried to kill before. You kidnapped your former Watcher, who was working with said lover at eh time and tortured him for hours, only to get into another epic fight. He overpowered you and you, at last, sought redemption. You turned yourself in, only to break out three years later to come and assist one of your own mortal enemies during the apocalypse."

"Andrew!" Faith said loudly to shut him up. "I know my life story."

"So you don't deny any of this. Interesting." Andrew had a pen and notepad in his lap and his camera on the table next to him, filming the so-called 'interview' he had talked Faith into doing. Right now, Faith was really wishing she hadn't agreed to do it out of boredom.

"Of course I don't deny it. It's what happened." Faith leaned over and grabbed a bag of Titos chips form the table in front of her. A few Potentials had taken them form the kitchen, and there was food lying everywhere. "Bu the key component is that I'm good now. I may not be B's biggest fan, but I'm here to fight evil, not help it."

"Mmhmm." Andrew said, looking down at his notebook. "And it is my own personal observation that you have currently been spending a lot of time with the Slayer's close friend Willow." At this, Faith choked on a chip and automatically started coughing like crazy. She had not smoked for quite some time, ever since she had heard that Willow didn't like smokers, but her coughing reflex was still a little slow. She hacked and wheezed, pummeling herself on the chest until her airway finally cleared. Swallowing, she looked over at Andrew with streaming eyes.

"What?" Her voice came out squeaky and breathy. She cleared her throat and tried again. "What?"

"It's just something I have been noticing, and I believe our viewers will be interested in the relationships between the Slayer and her partners."

"_Relationships? _I- oh, there's no relationship, okay weasel? I am relationship-free, really. Nope, nothing going on in the dating department, I'm…I'm good."

"You're also babbling like crazy." Both Faith and Andrew jumped as a voice over by the door spoke. They turned to see Buffy standing there, wearing a most curious expression on her face. Faith flushed. She was just thinking the last thing she needed was for Buffy to chime in on her thing, whatever it was, with Willow, when Buffy spoke again. "Andrew, would you leave us for a few minutes?" Andrew hurried to collect his camera and notebook and rushed form the room. Buffy took his vacated seat.

"What's up, B?" Faith took a stab and being cool, but she knew her face was still red. She crumpled up the nearly empty chip bag and tossed it back onto the table. Buffy didn't move an inch. She had her arms and legs crossed and glared at Faith without blinking.

"What the _hell _was all that stuff about Willow?" it was hardly a question. It was more of a demand. Faith breathed deep, willing herself to take the high road and not pound Buffy's face into a pulp.

"What are you talking about? Will and I are friends. Just like you and me, right?"

"We. Are not. Friends." Buffy's voice was nearly a snarl. "And from what I see coming from you, you aren't just interested in being friends with Willow either."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be training the wanna-slays in the basement with Spike?" Faith thought that maybe she could distract Buffy from the conversation, but clearly the Slayer was not to be sidetracked.

"Answer me."

"Whoa, okay." Faith held up her hands. "Number one, this is none of your business. Number two…there is no number two. That's it. This is none of your business, and that's all." She began to rise, but Buffy was on her feet in seconds. Even though they were the same height, Faith felt like Buffy was ten feet taller.

"You will stay away form Willow."

"Okay, Buffy. What was number one again?" _Wham!_ Next thing Faith knew, there was a fist in her mouth. She staggered and caught herself on the coffee table before she went down. That was it. As soon as someone hits her, that's a license to hit back. Since she was lower than Buffy right now, she chose to retaliate with a well-aimed kick at Buffy's stomach. A loud 'Oof!' told her she had hit her mark. Buffy spun and brought a back kick whirling at Faith's head. Faith ducked it instinctively and brought her fist into Buffy's nose as the blonde Slayer came around. Shocks radiated up her arm, but being a Slayer, it did not hurt much. Buffy was strong enough that her nose did not break, but blood streamed from both nostrils and she got Faith back with a shot at her throat. Faith had not been suspecting such a cheap shot from the Queen of the World, so she did not get to block it in time. Both hands flew to her trachea, and she wheezed hard, gulping in air. She glared at Buffy, eyes darting around, looking for a good place to strike when Buffy grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her back on the couch.

"Stay away from her." As Blondie marched off, Faith massaged her throat, full of hatred. The front door opened and she flopped back onto the cushions, trying to look casual. Xander, Anya and Willow came in with a few grocery bags.

"—place was nearly empty," Anya was saying. "We should have just stolen stuff."

"There were still workers there." Xander said, shutting the door. He nodded at Faith and took his bags into the kitchen, followed by Anya and Willow, who gave Faith a little wave and smile. Faith smiled weakly back, jaw throbbing too much for a full grin. She closed her eyes and held her breath for a few beats until—

"Buffy, oh my God!" That was Willow. "What happened? You're bleeding."

"Yeah, you okay?" and that was Xander.

"If you get hit hard enough in the nose, the bone can get pushed up into your brain and you could die." Of course, Anya had to chime in.

"It's nothing, guys." And Buffy, acting the hero as always. "Faith just lost her temper a little." Faith sat up quickly on the cushions, listening angrily. _I lost MY temper? Try it the other way around!_

"What?" Willow sounded so shocked.

"Yeah. And, Will? I need to talk to you about her. I know this may freak you out, but Faith's…Faith's…"

"Evil?" asked Xander.

"Dead?" Anya, sounding cheerful as always.

"In love with me?" And Willow, clearly prepared for the truth. Faith gave a little spasm as she heard this. Is that what it was that she felt? Love? Well, of course, she knew that. She'd known that for a while. She just hadn't admitted it to herself. _Wow, honesty is pretty big in my head right now. What the hell is wrong with my brain? _Faith was so busy pondering this that she missed what Buffy said, and what Willow said after that, and the short conversation that followed between the four of them, and then the sounds of three angry pairs of feet, one hurried I-have-to-stop-my-friends-from-doing-this pair of feet, and one I-gotta-get-this-on-film pair of feet all coming towards her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"What?" Buffy looked mortified, even with half her face covered with Kleenex for her bloody nose. Willow blinked slowly, choosing her words.

"I know Faith's in love with me." She said. Buffy's eyes widened.

"You _know?!_ And you've been hanging out with her for the last few weeks. Are you…are you two involved!?"

"Of course not!" Xander said, clearly wishing what he was saying was true. "Right?" He turned hopefully to Willow, who shook her head.

"No. I…I don't know. Maybe. Not. No. I can't do this right now, okay?" Willow was getting flustered and angry. She wanted to explain herself to Buffy, but the Slayer had clearly heard enough. She stormed from the room, followed by Anya and Xander.

"Faith!" Buffy yelled, whipping into the living room. Willow suddenly realized what Buffy was about to do and rushed after her. Faith was standing now across from Buffy, who was flanked by Xander and Anya. Andrew darted into the room with his camera at the ready, but before anyone could say anything, there was the sound of the basement door opening, followed by the many footfalls of at least thirty Potentials plus Spike coming into the room.

"We heard yelling." Spike said, shoving his way to the front of the group that now formed a ring all the way around Buffy and Faith. "What's going on."

"Looks like Faith's got herself a little crush." Buffy said quietly. Faith flushed and glanced at Willow, unfortunately, Kennedy spotted this.

"Willow!" the Potential shouted. "Faith and Willow!" She stepped forward and started towards Faith. Spike grabbed her arms and wrenched her back.

"That's a Slayer fight, girl," he told her. "Get out there and you'll be ripped to shreds."

"I don't believe this!" Buffy shouted at Faith. "You think you can just come in here and—"

"You know what, B?" Faith cut across her. She was shaking with anger. She jumped onto the coffee table so she stood above Buffy and glared down at her. "I am sick to death with all your damn control-freak deal! You think that just because someone's your friend, that they belong to you. That you get to decide everything for them. Willow knows how I feel, and now she is going to make her decision without any 'help' form you, which is actually you punching me in the face."

"Fine!" Buffy yelled back. She whirled around to face Willow. "Make it, then! Choose to be with a murderer, with a piece of filth like this, with someone who threatened your life! Or choose to keep away form her. Willow, she's dangerous." Her voice was calmer now. "She's a killer."

"Well so am I." Willow said quietly. She had not been looking Buffy in the eye, but now she did. "Aren't I? I killed Warren. I killed Rack. And I killed Tara." Her voice was getting stronger. Buffy tried to cut in, but Willow kept going. "Do you think that if I hadn't brought you back, Warren still would have come here with a gun? Do you think Tara would be dead if I had never brought you back to life? Her death was my fault. And you do not have _any _idea what that's like." Again, Buffy tried to speak, but the witch would not allow her to. "Yes, you hit people, you slay vampires and demons, you kill stuff. But you have never felt what it's like to actually take a life. Yes, you were there when Faith did, and you went through that pain, but you never actually killed anyone. You got over it. Just like you get over everything else. Remember Angel? The love of your life? Three months after he leaves, you get it on with Parker. I stayed with you through that. I helped you get over it. After that fiasco, you climb onto Riley. To get over Riley when he leaves, you have your sister, your mother, your friends, and Spike to help you through that pain. When Oz left me, I had Tara. I loved her with every particle of my being. And now she's gone, and I have nobody, _nobody_, to help me. No one here knows what that's like."

"I do." Buffy said slowly. "I do know what that's like. I killed Angel." She would have continued, but she stopped when she saw Willow shaking her head.

"No, that's not exactly true, is it? You sent him to hell, yes, but he came back. You killed him, and he came back. You killed yourself to save the world two years ago, but you came back. I killed Tara, and she is not going to come back. Not ever. And you can't ever know what that feels like. I had no one to talk to, no one who I could get help from."

"You had me!" Buffy's eyes were shining with tears, like Willow's now.

"That's not true, either, Buffy. You've been busy ever since. With getting over Spike, with protecting your sister, with your new and improved army. The old gang isn't enough for you anymore. You haven't been around for a long time, and even if you were, I doubt there's anything you could do to me. You have never felt what it's like to take a human life when you have a soul. To take it so it will never return and to feel remorse and pain for it. No one in this room has ever felt that except for me and Faith. So is it so wrong for me to turn to the one person I can relate to?"

Buffy did not answer immediately. Xander was looking at his shoes, and Anya was simply watching Willow. Buffy was avoiding everyone's gaze, and Faith was still standing on the table. When Buffy finally spoke, it was with a pleading note in her voice.

"Willow, _please! _This is Faith we're talking about. She's a very dangerous—"

"No she's not." Willow interrupted. "You don't even know her." She remembered years ago, when Cordelia had called Buffy a psycho, and Willow had used those same words to defend her best friend.

"I know enough." Buffy said.

"No you don't." Faith chimed in now. "You have never tried to get to know me. Not even when we were working together, back in the day. You never made an effort. But Willow has. Will's been a better friend to me than anyone I've ever met, including you. You always talk about how you're so alone, because you're the Slayer. But you're so damn busy being alone that you never realize that maybe there are other people in this world who feel pain, too."

Willow looked deep into her friend's eyes, willing her to understand. "I love you, but I don't always need you to protect me."

"No." Buffy said flatly. "Because now you have Faith to protect you."

"No, Buffy." Willow said, closing her eyes. She just wished that her friend would allow her to do this without having to explain herself. She breathed deep, trying to calm herself. "I really need you to just let this happen. You don't always get a say in what's going on."

"Do you really think that Tara would want—"

"You will _not _bring her into this!" Willow flared up at once. "I can't…I can't do this now." She felt it would be better to clear off for a bit, and maybe talk about this later, when they had less of a fifty-person audience. She wove her way through the Potentials and went out the door. Xander grabbed Anya by the arm and went back into the kitchen, followed by Andrew. Spike whisked back down to the basement, and Buffy instructed the Potentials to go upstairs. They all left, and she followed them up, leaving Faith alone, still standing on the table. She was trying to figure out what had just happened when the door opened and Giles came through the door with Dawn and a new girl. Dawn took the girl upstairs, and Giles entered the living room.

"Where is everybody?" He asked to no one in particular, until he spotted Faith. "Faith?"

"What? Why are you staring at me all weird?"

"Your feet."

"What about them?" She looked down.

"They're on the table."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

For the next few days Willow told Faith to keep her distance. She was trying to work things out with Buffy, and she and Faith both agreed that they spent a while apart. They didn't patrol together anymore, and Willow always went to visit Tara alone, asking for advice, for guidance. It never came, but usually that was the place where Willow could come up with ideas, with things to say next time she saw Buffy.

The problem was that she rarely saw Buffy anymore. During the day she was at work, and during the night she was always with the other slayers. Finally, Willow was at home on the couch when Buffy arrived. She stood up to pull her friend away into a quiet place when the phone rang. Andrew grabbed it as fast as he could. It reminded Willow of the neighbors she used to babysit for who had kids that always thought answering the phone was a privilege, and always raced to get it first. Andrew pulled the phone away from his ear and held it out to Willow.

"It's for you. From Fred. Guy sounds kind of a feminine."

"Fred?" Willow asked, pulling the phone from him and pressing it to her own ear. "Fred?"

"Yeah, hi Willow." Freds cute southern voice trilled through the receiver. "Ummm, we're having a bit of a situation here, and I was wonderin' if you could come down and help us sort it out."

"Okay…what kind of situation?"

"The Angelus kind." Fred said shyly. Willow nearly dropped the telephone. She grabbed it by the cord and swung it back up to her ear.

"What?" She wasn't quite sure why she was whispering.

"Yes. We needed some info from him, and so we brought him back and put his soul in a jar. You know, so we could put it back in him? But only he's escaped, and the jar's been stolen, and we really need some help. I thought you could help with the soul part, and you could bring along Buffy or someone to help get Angelus back." Willow's mind was reeling. She shook her head to clear it.

"Uhh…right. I'll come, but I don't think Buffy can make it. She's been busy lately."

"Okay. Is there someone else y'all could bring?" Willow knew there was only one other person. She could hear Faith's voice from the kitchen. She was talking to some of the Potentials about something or other.

"Yes. There is." Willow breathed. "We'll come right away. I'll call you back on my cell once we're on our way and get the details." After hanging up, Willow went into the kitchen. "You seen Buffy?" She asked Faith, Vi and Rona, who were all sitting around, munching on a bag of Titos.

"Yeah." Faith said. Willow really had to admire how not-awkward she was. Faith had to be one of the smoothest people she knew, even if she was just acting. "She went into the basement." Willow nodded and clacked down the wooden steps.

"Buffy?" The Slayer was standing halfway down the stairs. "I have to take of for LA for a couple days. Something's come up with Angel. You think you can manage without Faith and I for a couple days?"

"Sure." Buffy didn't seem to be paying attention. Willow started back up the stairs, but stopped when Buffy seemed to come to her senses. "Wait. Faith? You and Faith are going away?"

"Yeah." Willow said, turning around. "They need some magic and some muscle, and since I figured you wouldn't be able to go—"

"Fine. Yeah, it's fine. Good. Have fun." Buffy seemed very robotic as she spoke. Willow came back down a few steps and put a hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"I really want you to be okay with this." She said quietly.

"I am." Willow raised her eyebrows. Buffy smile and gave a little laugh. "Okay, no, I'm not. But I will be. I want to be okay with this. I think I need some time." Willow dearly would have liked to hug Buffy, glad that they had at least started to make up, but decided against it. She was two stairs above Buffy, and she didn't want to risk sending them both crashing down into the basement. Suddenly, she remembered that Tara had once fallen down these stairs, tripped by Buffy herself, who had been poisoned and crazy. Willow remembered lying on the floor, bound and gagged, until Tara had come along to rescue her. She closed her eyes, wishing to lose herself in fond memories of her love, but she was brought back to earth when the thought of Angelus loose in Los Angeles nudged her daydreaming away.

"Faith." Willow closed the door to the basement and leaned across the island in the Summer's kitchen. She snatched the Titos out of Faith's hands. "Get your coat!"

"Why?" Faith was sucking the cheese off the ends of her fingers, looking longingly at the bag of chips Willow had taken.

"We've got a mission…of sorts. I'll explain on the way."

"Will, we can't just take off in the middle of the apocalypse or whatever—"

"It's about Angel." Willow said, looking into Faith's brown eyes knowingly. The Slayers attitude changed at once. She popped her fingers out of her mouth and pushed Rona out of the way to get to the front door. "And off we go." Willow said, dropping the chip bag on the island and marching out after Faith, leaving Vi and Rona completely clueless as to what had just happened.

_Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter, guys. I'm just getting back into the writing funk. Hope you like it so far!_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Once in Xander's car, Willow explained everything to Faith while driving. Faith took it all in silently, nodding slowly now and again. Once she had finished, Willow tugged her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed the number of Angel's hotel.

"Angel Investigations."

"Fred?"

"Yup. Oh, Willow?"

"Yeah. We're on our way. What's going on?" Fred filled Willow in on all the details, including everything about Connor, Angel's son. Willow relayed everything to Faith, who was shocked, like Willow, about Connor.

"Aren't vamps supposed to be, you know, sterile or whatever?"

"Yeah." Willow said, tucking her phone away and concentrating on the road. They drove in silence for a few minutes until Faith leaned forward and turned on the radio. They both jumped at the loud, enthusiastic voice of the announcer.

"Welcome back to our Beatles marathon! Next song, coming right up!" The music started. Willow bobbed her head along until she registered what the lyrics were.

"I've just seen a face, I can't forget the time or place where we just met, she's just the girl for me and I want all the world to see we've met. Had it been another day I might have looked the other way and I'd have never been aware, but as it is I'll dream of her tonigh—"" Faith quickly switched to a different channel with an awkward look at Willow. Clearly they were both thinking that perhaps that song was written for them, but instead of being romantic, it was a little weird.

Faith leaned back in her seat as they listened to some loud, thudding techno music. She drummed her fingers on the dashboard, wishing she had brought something to do. When they finally came to a halt in front of the Hyperion Hotel, Willow dashed inside, wanting to make sure everyone was okay, and that Angelus hadn't invaded or anything. Faith got out more slowly and followed her inside. By the time she got there Willow was deep in conversation with Fred about science. Or possibly magic. She wasn't really sure. Faith shared a very awkward greeting with Wesley, but that wasn't surprising, seeing how she had tortured him nearly to death during their last meeting.

They all sat around the lobby and gave official introductions. Faith took one look at Angel's greasy-haired kid and hated him. Sweet Willow was being friendly, but it was clear there was something about him that threw her a little. Faith rounded up the fighters of the bunch and took them off into the evening, Angelus-hunting, leaving Willow and Fred to magic things around and try to find the jar.

"Anything yet?" Willow was lying upside down on the circular couch in the lobby. Her feet were up on the top of it, and her head was just resting on the floor.

"Nope." Fred was lounging on the stairs. It had been half an hour of turning ancient pages in ancient books and brainstorming ideas. They had already tried a locator spell, which gave no results.

"Connor?" There was a shout from upstairs.

"It looks like Cordelia's awake." Fred said, sitting up. Willow flipped over and stood up. "You could probably go visit her now."

"Hey, Cordy." Willow poked her head through the door. Cordelia was lying in bed with the covers bunched all around her. It looked like she'd been lying there for days.

"Willow? Oh my God! It's been forever!" Willow came over and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"How've you been?"

"Higher Power. You?"

"Ultimate evil. Oh—but I'm better now."

"So…where's Connor?" Willow could tell she was trying to sound casual, but there was an edge in Cordelia's voice.

"Faith took him out to find Angelus—"

"Faith? She's here? I thought you were going to bring Buffy."

"Buffy's busy. But anyway, what do you think we should do about the soul? Fred and I are out of ideas."

"A soul trapped in a jar, stolen right outta our safe, impervious to magic."

"Yup."

"Tough nut to crack." Willow nodded slowly, until suddenly something clicking into place. She jumped to her feet. _We just break the jar!_

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I doubt it." There was something odd about Cordelia's face. She was holding her arm at a funny angle too. But there was no time to fathom Cordy's weird positioning. She had to get back to the lobby! "Could you hand me that glass of water?" Willow barely heard her, she was so excited.

"We just break the jar!"

"That's great, I'm _really _thirsty—"

"We don't even have to know where it is! This is great, Cordy," She continued, making her way to the door. "We're gonna get him back!" She raced back into the hall, hearing a loud thud behind her. Must have been the door swinging shut.

Willow jumped the last four stairs into the lobby. "The jar!" she shouted.

"You found it?!" Fred was back at the reception counter, flipping through another leather bound volume.

"No." Willow said. "I just thought of an idea—"

"You didn't have to escort me. I'm not a kid!" The sound of the front doors of the hotel banging open cut Willow off. Connor came through first, looking very angry, and Gunn followed, looking incredibly amused. Connor shot a filthy look at Willow, who smiled sweetly, and dashed upstairs, no doubt to see Cordelia. Gunn pulled off his jacket and tossed his crossbow onto the couch.

"What's the what?" He asked, strolling over, leaving muddy footprints behind him. Willow was reminded strongly of Faith, and smiled fondly at him. Gunn grinned back, looking a little confused, but pleased nonetheless. Willow quickly came to her senses and shook her head.

"I had an idea. We could use Delothrian's Arrow." She said, trying to act as though that was why she had been grinning stupidly at Gunn. She couldn't hide from it any longer, nor could she hide it from anyone else. She was slightly head over heels in love with the dark haired Slayer.

_Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, everyone. I had to sit down and watch Orpheus so I could get most of the stuff right. _


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Aah!" Faith grunted as the rammed the syringe into her arm. Maybe she should have rolled up her sleeve first, but there was no time. Wesley gave a yell from a short distance away. Faith tossed the empty syringe aside and jumped to her feet. "Whoa." The world was a little spinny. Nevertheless, she spotted Angelus a little ways away. He whipped around, in full vamp mode now.

"Lost your British man, Faithy. And your tranquilizer." He said. Faith shook her head to clear it and took a wild swing at him. She felt her fist connect with the flesh of his face, and heard him grunt as he staggered. She followed up with a kick, but he managed to grab her foot and shove her backwards. She staggered and fell, but quickly got up again. Wesley was moaning from somewhere, but right now she had to worry about Angelus.

_Why the hell did I come up with this plan._ She thought. _Drug yourself and then get sucked dry. God, I didn't even get to say goodbye to Red._ She was jerked out of her thoughts as Angelus grabbed the front of her jacket with one strong fist and threw her. The world was spinning, but Faith managed to figure out which way was down. _Great._ She was heading for a staircase. She tried to twist herself to land on her feet, but instead she hit the top step with her shoulder. Pain jolted through her body as she rolled and rolled. When she finally reached the bottom, she had lost all her breath. A loud thud told her Angelus had jumped down to join her, but unlike her, he was on his feet. He picked her up again and raised her above his head like a rag doll.

"Good. Good bells." Willow smiled at Fred as she marched around the hotel lobby with a tiny bell, dinging every few seconds. Willow turned away and lit the incense she had set on the counter and picked up her marble. She took a breath, and was about to speak when something smashed into her. She toppled backwards and skidded across the floor. Fred dropped the bell and Connor and Gunn leaped off their feet.

"Willow?" Gunn asked. "You okay?"

"Fine." Willow waved them all away as she got up and scooped up the marble. She held it out in her hand again. "Open the window, fill the stone. Inside, outside, two made one."

"You're getting weak, Faith. Now this is just sad." Angelus blocked another one of her attacks. Faith didn't get up this time. _Come on, big guy. _She tilted her head a little, exposing her neck. _You know you wanna taste me…_Angelus knelt beside her. "A sad end for a lousy Slayer." He said, and lifted her up. Faith shut her eyes tight and tried not to tense her neck muscles, but it was impossible as he bit down hard. She was too weak to yell, but even if she was strong enough she would never give him the satisfaction of a scream. She waited for him to cough and splutter, and back away, but he didn't. She was sinking now, sinking. _No! He's not going to stop. I'm going to die. At least Buffy will be happy. Where's Wes? Wes, Wes, Wes! Where'd my voice go? Willow! Help me! Someone…I'm not strong enough. _Her thoughts faded away as a new kind of black spread over her shut eyelids, and she fell into unconsciousness.

"Ignore it!" Willow shouted as Fred, Gunn and Connor all gasped at the huge demony head floating above them. "It's a distrac—" _Bam!_ The door flew open. Willow dropped her marble and the head vanished.

"Wesley?" She shouted, spotting him come through the door.

"Gunn!" Wes called, motioning his head behind him to a dull black form lying on the ground just outside the door.

"Angelus!" Gunn gasped, reaching the door.

"Faith." Fred said quietly, looking at the limp form in Wes's arms.

"Faith?" Connor said, moving forward.

"Connor!" Gunn was dragging Angelus by his feet and needed help. Connor moved and grabbed the vampire's arms.

"Faith!" Willow cried, trying to get closer, but Wesley moved around her.

"Lorne!" He shouted up into the hotel.

"Wesley…" Fred was staring at the neck wounds on Faith's body. Willow was too.

"Angelus?" Willow asked. Wesley nodded as Lorne came down the stairs.

"Angelus!" He shrieked, pointing at the unconscious body.

"Lorne…" Wesley said, motioning with his head to Faith.

"Faith!" The green demon said, rushing down the rest of the stairs to help.

Willow couldn't help almost laughing. "Okay, full sentences everyone. Wes, what happened?!"

"Later." Wesley said, moving up the stairs. "We have to get everyone settled.

Connor and Gunn were taking Angelus into the basement, where the chains and prison cell lived. Lorne, Wesley and Faith were all moving upstairs, and Fred was picking up the bells and the marble that had been dropped. Willow stood stock still, staring as they took Faith away. Willow's urge to laugh vanished instantly when she saw the thin trial of blood drops leading up the stairs after Faith. She wanted desperately to follow after them and make sure she was all right, but they had to get Angel's soul back as quickly as possible.

Once they had set the spell back up again. Gunn, Connor and Wesley had rejoined them. Willow started again. Slowly, the marble lifted off her hand and hovered, glowing. "Break the glass." She instructed it. It zoomed away, but suddenly Willow felt a pressure on her hand that was guiding the marble. There was a flash of light behind her and a yell form Fred.

"Willow, it's back! The head came back!"

"Ignore it." Willow snarled, focusing all her energy down her arm and out her palm. Whatever was pushing back was really strong. Suddenly there was another flash of light and Willow felt a blow to the back of her head. She stayed on her feet, but her skull was aching and a loud voice was bellowing inside her.

"You think to defeat me!?" It screamed. "While the soul is in my possession, you can never get it back!"

"Break…the…glass…" Willow gasped, nearly falling to her knees, her head feeling at though it was going to spilt in two. Willow hardly noticed Connor dashing upstairs. She held out her hand again, feeling a pool of black spreading over her eyes. It felt like cool water, but also made her feel like she was wearing sunglasses. Evil sunglasses. _What the hell am I thinking about? Evil sunglasses? Break the damn glass! _Suddenly, the pressure was removed. She staggered and caught herself on the couch.

"Did it work?" Fred asked. Willow nodded, closing her eyes.

"Yes. The soul has been released into the ether. Now all we have to do is restore it. We have to do it quickly."

"Yes." Wesley said. "The sooner we get rid of Angelus, the better."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"So, tell me again what she did?"

"Orpheus, Willow." Lorne said gently, dabbing Faith's forehead with a cloth. "It's a mystical drug. It takes you down to hell, and leaves you there."

"So she's—" Connor started. Willow fought back the urge to slap him. First he wants to kill his own dad, and then he just assumes Faith is going to die too?

"Oh, no." Lorne said to Angel's son. "She's not dead, but she will be unless she fights it."

"Faith's a fighter." Willow said at once. "She'll come back to us." She was sounding a lot more confident than she felt. "She has to." Willow spoke the last three words in a whisper.

"Well," said Gunn, after a beat. "I'm gonna go guard the Prince of Darkness. 'Case he wakes up." He left the room.

"It was a stupid thing to do. She shouldn't have taken it." Wesley muttered.

"But she did. She was brave, and she died in battle." Connor said sadly. Willow was hardly aware of doing it, but she swung around and gripped Connor's throat in her hand. She pushed him away, back into the wall. The boy was so shocked that he did not retaliate, and Willow was glad of it, because she was still not sure if she could take him.

"She. Is not. Dead." She snarled in Angel's son's face. Connor regained a little of his swagger and scowled.

"She's as good as. She's not moving at all."

"Well then she must be dead!" Willow said in mock surprise. "Because when someone isn't moving it means that they're dead! Here—" She froze, holding her arms at odd angles. "I must no longer be of the living, because I'm not moving a muscle!" Connor sniffed angrily, glaring at her. "Get the hell out." Willow snapped at him, regaining her normal posture. Connor left and headed in the direction of Cordelia's suite. Wesley continued like nothing had interrupted him.

"She should have told me her plan. I could have put a stop to it."

"But we had to catch Angelus, and it looks like this was the best way to do it." Fred chimed in. Willow nodded slowly, staring at the limp form of _(oh Goddess) _the woman she loved.She could hardly take it anymore. Just standing and watching. She had to be doing something.

"We have to re-ensoul Angel now." She said, her voice choked. "Stay with her." She added to Lorne. "Will you watch over her for me?"

"Of course." The demon said. He looked knowingly at her, as though he knew exactly what she was feeling.

Still concerned that the Beast's Master (as he had been dubbed by the gang at Angel Investigations) would get back inside her, Willow took her time setting up the spell. She had most of it memorized. Orb of Thessulah in the middle, symbols drawn around it, and so on.

"Here we go. You all ready?" She breathed. Wesley and Fred nodded. Willow took a breath and was about to start, when someone's clattering footsteps caught her attention. It was Connor, heading to the basement.

"Gonna go guard daddy." He muttered as he flew past them. Willow turned back to the spell and began.

"What, so you're going to give up!?"

"I have to!" Faith cried. "I can't…I'm not strong enough!"

"Yes you are!" Angel roared. "You can't give up. You have to keep fighting! Get up! _Oomph._" Faith looked up, tears streaming down her face as the much sleeker looking Angelus slammed the ratty, homeless-looking Angel in the stomach. The two were fighting all out, and Faith was curled up on the ground. "Get up!" Angel howled at her. She shuffled a little further away form the fight. It wasn't worth it. She'd never be accepted. Every time Buffy was around, she was the villain. She would never be okay, never be allowed to be one of them. No one believed in her. Except Willow.

"Willow." She muttered. The image of the red haired witch flared in her mind.

"Faith!" Angel screamed. "Get up!" Then something clicked into place. She as actually sitting on the ground crying! Faith the Vampire Slayer, crying? No. Faith was a warrior! She got to her feet. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash, and Angelus was stumbling backward, right into Angel. Faith understood. The demon was being buried again.

Faith gasped as she sat up, spilling the bowl of water Lorne had set on the bed with a cloth in it.

"Faith? You're alive!" The demon was shocked, but there was no time to explain. Somehow, Faith knew that Angel was not okay, no matter how soul-having he was. She sprang off the bed and whisked out the door. She didn't know what was guiding her footsteps, all she knew was that he was going to die if she didn't put a stop to it.

Faith leaped down the last few stairs into the lobby. Hardly pausing for a look at Willow, Fred and Wesley, who all whipped around at the sound of her feet on the floor, she dashed sideways and threw herself through the basement door. Gunn was unconscious, and Connor was standing in the open cage over his stirring father.

"No!" Faith screamed, and she dove at him.

Once the spell was done, Willow blew out her candles to finalize it and rushed after the dark haired girl who had run into the basement. Was it Faith? She hadn't gotten a good look. Maybe it was Fred. No, Fred was right behind her, so that wasn't possible. Maybe Cordelia. But no, Cordy was lying in bed looking ill. There was no way she could have moved at this speed in her state. Willow stumbled down the stairs into the basement to see Faith holding Connor up against the bars of the cage, and a heavily chained Angel clutching to Connor from behind. Gunn was at the foot of the stairs, stirring slightly. Fred bent over Gunn, Wesley grabbed the keys up from the floor and moved to unchain Angel. Faith let go of Connor, who slid to the ground, shocked. Willow wished she had a camera to capture the look on his face.

Faith turned slowly to look at Willow. The witch was white in the face, staring at her. "Will?" Faith asked. What had scared the sweet redhead so much? "You okay?"

At the sound of Faith's voice, Willow seemed to regain the use of her limbs. Without thinking, without caring that everyone was watching her, Willow dashed at Faith, caught the Slayer's face in her hands and kissed her.

_Author's Note: there it is! It only took us twelve chapters to get here, but we finally got to what you've all been waiting for. Please review, and Chapter 13 coming soon!_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Faith nearly fell over, partly from shock, and partly from the force with which Willow had hit her. It took Faith a moment to register what was happening, and by the time she did, Willow was about to draw away, and that was the last thing she wanted. Swiftly, Faith wrapped an arm around Willow's waist and pulled the witch into her, the other hand running through Willow's red hair. Willow had one hand on Faith's back, and the other on the side of her face. The whole world fell away. She shut her eyes, and basked in Willow. She was all around her, her soft lips, her slim waist and her sweet smelling hair. Faith was wrapped in Willow, and right now they were the only two people in the world…

Except they weren't. Willow was the first one to realize this, and broke away from Faith. Faith kept her right arm around Willow's waist and refused to let go. Willow gave a little smile and turned to the rest of the room. Angel's face was blank as always. Connor's was furious as always. Gunn was rubbing his head, clearly wondering if he was still unconscious, and Fred was smiling sweetly, but it was Wesley's face that made Willow burst out laughing. The former Watcher was wearing an expression equivalent to being clubbed over the head. Willow detached herself from Faith and looked guiltily around.

"Ummm…" She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "We should, ah, get going. Now that everything's cool. Everything's cool, right?"

"Hell yeah, it is." Faith whispered. Angel, the only one who heard her, shot her a look. She grinned. The group trooped upstairs together. Angel took Faith by the arm and pulled her aside.

"You were amazing." He told her. "You didn't give up. You're a true fighter, Faith, a true champion." Faith looked down at her shoes.

"No I'm not. You're the champion here Angel. I wouldn't have gotten back up if you hadn't been there."

"Oh, I think something might have gotten to you eventually." Angel said with a rare smile and a glance over at Willow. Faith looked back up at him.

"You know, you're the only person who thought I could do any good. Whenever Buffy's around, I'm the villain, and as soon as she's gone I'm the hero. But whenever I'm around you, you make me feel like…like I'm the hero all the time, and that's just a part of me B doesn't see."

"I think that's true." Angel said. "I love Buffy. I love her so much it hurts. But you and her have such a checkered past, it's hard for her to move past that."

"I did." Faith said grumpily. Angel gave her another smile.

"No, you haven't. You and her will never be the best of friends, but I think someday, you'll both realize who the other truly is."

After sharing a few severely awkward goodbyes, Willow and Faith climbed into the car. Faith was positively glowing, and Willow, though happy on the inside, was concerned too.

"What do we tell everyone?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Who has to know?" Faith was messing with a loose button on her jacket.

"I don't think I'm comfortable with keeping this a secret." Willow said, glancing over at her…girlfriend? She didn't know. "I think we have to tell them."

"Then I do too." Faith said, nodding slowly. "But things'll get weird. 'Specially with B."

"I know." Willow murmured. "But I think it's okay. I think she'll be okay."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. As they breezed into Sunnydale, the sun was just starting to rise. Suddenly, Willow rolled the car to a halt, Faith looked over at her.

"What?"

"Could you drive the rest of the way to the house?" Willow asked. "I want to get out here."

"Sure." Faith agreed at once, without question. It was one of the things Willow loved most about her. Loved? Geez, things were getting more complicated by the second. Willow watched Faith roll away in Xander's car until both the taillights had disappeared in the distance. She then turned to the place she had stopped at. It was a graveyard.

Willow picked her way through all the headstones with practiced ease, until she reached a particular one, a familiar one, one with flattened grass on top of it because of all the time she had spent there.

"Hey." She said, her voice choked. "It's me. Again. Big surprise." She tried to laugh, but her vision was swimming with tears. She knelt down. "I'll never let you go." She insisted to the headstone. It did not reply, but Willow wished with every fiber of her being that it did. "You will always be with me, and I'll always be with you. I'm always yours. We should have been forever. And we still are." The grass was wet; it must have rained the previous day, and Willow's jeans were soaking wet, but she didn't care. "We're forever." She breathed. She wanted more than anything to touch Tara, to feel her fingers entwined with her own, to run her fingers through Tara's silky hair, to feel Tara's breath tickling her ear as they shared some perfect secret. She wanted to see that crooked smile she loved dearly, to hear her beautiful songbird voice, to look deep into her endless eyes. She wanted to smell her, to be wrapped up in a Tara blanket, to be with her forever.

"You are."

Willow received such a huge shock when she heard the words she thought her heart had actually stopped for a second. Getting to her feet and looking wildly around the graveyard, she searched for any sign of the voice. There was no mistaking that voice. It was Tara. Tara had just spoken to her, she was sure of it. She looked down at her dead love's grave. It looked the same as always. The three stones she had places there ages ago were still there, and everything was normal. Willow assumed she must have imagined it. She knew she'd imagined it. The tears started to fall again as she made this realization. For one wild moment, she had become certain that Tara was alive, and that she would turn around to see her standing there, perhaps greeting her with her beautiful smile. But Willow knew…Willow knew it was in her head, and that Tara could not come back, and that she could not keep wishing this forever. But still, there was a tiny spark, one tiny particle of her, deep beneath her skin, that was certain Tara could return, and that someday she would.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Willow did not know how long she had been sitting there before her cell phone rang. She recognized the voice on the other end immediately.

"Will, hey." Faith was clearly in a rush. "I'm really sorry, but I gotta come get you."

"Why?" Willow didn't bother trying to hide the fact that she had been crying; she sounded like it.

"I was driving, and there was a truck in front of me. The door opened and a girl fell outta it. She had been stabbed and shoved out. I called an ambulance and they just took her in. Are you still where I dropped you off?"

"Yeah." Willow got to her feet and dashed towards the graveyard entrance. She didn't have a problem with Faith coming for her. If there was some new bad guy in town, she didn't want to be out by herself, even though light was slowly creeping across the ground. "I'll wait for you."

It wasn't long until Faith came for her. Willow figured she must have been speeding like crazy, but it didn't bother her much, she was too worried. Willow checked her reflection in the dark car window before she got in. Her face was tear-streaked, and even the little bit of makeup she wore was smudged.

"What's wrong?" Faith asked, as they drove to the hospital.

"Nothing." Willow said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Just…"

"You think you're betraying Tara by kissing me. Or being with me. Or whatever it is that we have." Willow looked over at her, surprised by her accurate assumption. "Hey, I may be an escaped convict, but I'm not stupid. I knew where we were when I dropped you off."

Willow gave a weak laugh. "I should have known you would have…known." Faith smiled over at her.

"I think it's natural. I think you're s'posed to feel like this, but I also think it'll go away."

"I never really figured you as a brain." Willow said. Faith shrugged.

"Neither did I, but here we are. And, oh, here we are." She spun the steering wheel and they veered into the parking lot. It didn't take them long before they found a girl. She was unconscious, and her stomach and neck were bandaged. Faith pointed at the neck bandage. "Vamp bite?"

"I don't know." Willow leaned forward and made to pull the gauze away, but there was a clattering outside and a nurse came through the door.

"What are you doing?" The nurse asked, hands on her hips. "This girl is in serious condition! We can't allow visitors right now! Out, come on, out!" She rushed forward and chivvied them out the door. They plopped down on hard plastic seats to wait. Willow pulled out her cellphone to call Buffy.

"Hey, Buff. Looks like we're going to be back a little later than we thought." Pause. Faith was listening closely, trying to hear what Buffy was saying on the other end, but she couldn't make out the words. Suddenly, Willow stood up and moved a little bit away. "No, it's a girl we found on the road, we took her to the hospital. Yes. Yeah. What? Me and Faith? Okay, Buffy. You probably aren't going to like this, but—" Willow had moved out of Faith's range of hearing. It was by accident, but Faith didn't mind. It looked like Buffy was about to get the solid, in-your-face truth that she had been dreading.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Faith hated hospitals. There was nothing to listen to but the sound of machines hooked up to bodies, and nothing to smell but sterilizing fluid. Faith had to admit being in an eight month coma was enough time to get her fill of the hospital scene. When Willow came back, tucking her phone away and her face unreadable, Faith stood up.

"I'm sorry, Will, but I can't stay here. I can't hang out in hospitals anymore. I just can't."

"I understand." Willow said, her large eyes compassionate. "But I don't know if going home is the right idea. Buffy's—"

"Been slapped in the face by reality?" Faith said hotly. She made to turn away, but Willow reached out and caught her by the arm. The Slayer swung around. "I told her, and I know she'll be okay…eventually." Faith nodded silently and made to leave again, but Willow held on fast. "Faith." She said. "Buffy and you will make your peace someday. Of that I am certain."

"Yeah. Cool." Faith looked down. Willow reached out and looped some of Faith's dark hair behind her ear.

"I'm also certain of something else."

"What's that?" Faith's brown eyes met Willow's hazel ones. The witch looked deep into her.

"That I'm in love with you." Faith's spirit soared, and she took Willow's face in her hands and kissed her hard. The entire awful atmosphere of the hospital fell away, and Faith only felt Willow's soft lips on hers, only heard the sound of their two hearts beating together. When they finally broke away, the world came back with a thud. Back came the beeping, back came the smell, back came the harsh lighting, and as much as Faith wanted to stay in Willow's arms for all eternity, she had to get out of there.

She kissed the witch once more, this time lightly, and backed away. The fingers of her left hand were twined with the fingers on Willow's right, and they slid apart as Faith left. The Slayer swung around and strolled down the hallway. At the corner, she looked back. Willow was sitting again, and Faith could have sworn there was a smile creeping over the redheads lips.

_Author's Note: grr, argh, sorry everyone. This chapter took forever to get up here, yet it's so short! There'll be something more worth the wait later on this week ;)_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Are they back yet?"

"No, Willow." Giles said heavily, pulling off his coat. Willow had been dashing down the stairs every time she heard the door close. It had been nearly forty-five minutes since Faith and Buffy had gone off Bringer-hunting. They were looking to find this new guy, Caleb's hideout.

"I hate not being able to do anything. That girl, Shannon, said Caleb had something of Buffy's, but there's no record of any particular item belonging to the Slayer."

"For all intents and purposes, I think it's a bluff." Giles led Willow into the living room. There were Potentials here and there, but the couch was empty, so they sat down. "We've never even heard of this Caleb man, and he's probably leading us into—"

"A trap?" Willow asked.

"Well, yes." Giles pulled off his glasses and cleaned them. Willow couldn't help but smile fondly at him. A sudden click of the front door announced Faith and Buffy's return.

"We found it." Buffy said automatically. The Potentials got up and came closer. While Buffy filled everyone in on the hideout, Willow moved over to Faith.

"How'd it go?" She asked, Faith knew she wasn't talking about the Caleb hunt.

"Fine. Spent some quality time with big sis." She looked over at Willow, who was still trying to pay attention to Buffy's talk as well as listen to Faith. "I think she's gonna be cool."

"I think Xander is, too." Willow said. "I talked to him today, and he said it was my choice, and that he would always be my best friend."

"He's a good guy." Faith said. Willow suddenly remembered the time when Faith had slept with him, and how upset she'd been. It seemed ages ago, much longer than a few years.

"Only the one's who've been here the longest!" Buffy said, her voice rising. The sudden volume increase jerked Willow out of her thoughts. The blond Slayer was glaring at Giles. "He could have anything! It could be another girl!"

"It could be a stapler!"

I took some time for everyone to settle down, but in the end it was Buffy who came out victorious. She loaded everyone up with weapons, called in Spike and Xander and set off with them in tow. Willow had half chosen to, half been told to, remain behind. She knew Faith was going, and gave the brunette and swift kiss before letting her walk out the door.

"See you later." Faith said with a cheery wave.

The path to the vineyard seemed to take much less time now that Faith knew where she was going. "What's the plan, B?" She asked in a low voice.

"You and Xander come a-running when you hear the signal." Buffy said easily. Xander was on Buffy's other side.

"What's the signal?" He asked.

"I'm thinkin' lots of screaming."

Adrenaline was pounding so hard through Faith's body that she was almost vibrating with it. Buffy, Spike and half the Potentials had gone in a moment ago, and Faith was kneeling behind the fence that ran around the vineyard. Amanda was next to her, and Faith could feel her shaking, with either fear or anticipation, she couldn't tell. It didn't take long for the yelling to start. Faith saw Xander tense up, ready to charge into battle.

"Easy, big guy." She said. "We don't wanna run in too soon."

"I know." He muttered. "I just can't stand not knowing…" He trailed off, eyes fixed on the vineyard's open door.

It was worse than almost anything Faith had experienced, hearing the screaming, clattering, clanking, and other sounds coming from the building. When the noise reached such a height that Faith couldn't stand it, She jumped up and hopped the fence.

"Let's go, girls!" She hollered, and led the way in. As she raced down the stairs into the cellar, Faith clenched the two knives she was holding so hard her hands hurt. She had chosen knives specifically, they had always been her weapon of choice, ever since she had been given her Jackal knife by the Mayor four years ago. She liked them because they were personal. You had to get real close to someone to put a knife in their belly, unlike a crossbow where you could just shoot from a ways off. She wasn't a coward, and she wasn't one to stand on the edge of the crowd and pick off people from afar. She wanted to be right in the thick of it, and knives were the best weapons to use there.

Faith spotted head preacher man right away. She figured she had picked a pretty good time to charge, because a few of the girls weren't looking too good. She saw Buffy, a short ways off, on the ground, unmoving.

"Guess it's my turn." She muttered, and made straight for Caleb. She knew she'd caught him by surprise right off, but he recovered quickly.

"And you're the other one, aren't you." He seemed pleased, like it was a fight wasted if he didn't get to exchange blows with both Slayers. Faith thought she had the upper hand while he was talking, so she lunged at him, but he was faster than she expected, and much stronger, too. He caught her arm and held it there. Now wanting to give him a chance to snap it, she swung wildly with her second knife. Next thing she knew, her arms were crossed and her weapons were clattering to the floor.

"Well, damn." Faith hissed. It was time for a little footwork. A few good blows here and there had him staggering but he got one solid contact, and she found herself flying away from him. She didn't know what she had crashed into, but she knew it hurt. She heard screams, and Xander yelling for Buffy, and the swish of Spike's coat as he spun around, taking out as many Bringers as he could. Faith tried to stand, but the wind had been knocked out of her. She heard a snap, and turned her head in time to see Caleb dropping a body. "No." She moaned.

"Get them out!" And suddenly, Buffy was on her feet. She wasn't standing too strong, but Faith didn't care. B was right. They couldn't win this.

"Out." Faith told herself. "Get the girls out." Most of the Potentials seemed to have got the message, and Faith joined them in the scramble for the door. She was the last of the Slayer army to leave, and as she turned she saw Buffy, Spike and Xander all coming for the exit, so she took the stairs three at a time and followed the girls as they sprinted back the fence. Halfway there, a terrible yell split the air. She staggered to a halt and spun around. It was coming form the vineyard, piercing the night, going on and on. Faith joined in, dashing back to the entrance, yelling and yelling. She didn't know what was going on, but the Slayer in her knew she had to help. What the hell had happened?

"Willow!" Faith hollered as she burst through the Summers' door on Revello Drive. The witch came in from the kitchen.

"What?" Her forehead was creased, and wide eyes filled with foreboding.

"You have to get to the hospital." Faith gasped, edging sideways so Spike and the Potentials could get inside after her. "It's Xander."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"It's like she's a completely different person." After a few more feeble pirate jokes, Willow and Xander's talk had turned to Buffy.

"Yeah." Xander agreed. "But…I mean, she's busy now. Fate of the world and all."

"I know." Willow said quickly. "I just think maybe she could spare just a little time to spend with, you know, her friends."

"I guess she doesn't really need us that much anymore."

Willow couldn't think of a reply to this, so they sat in silence. The steady beeping of hospital machines was the only thing she could hear, other than Xander's breathing as it grew slower and deeper. Once she was sure he was asleep, she let go of his hand and moved over to one of the chairs in the room. She had nit brought any reading material, and in her rush to get to his room she hadn't snagged a magazine from the waiting room. She would not leave his side until she was certain he was okay, and the only thing in the room was a deck of cards. They had not convinced Buffy to stay with them to play a few rounds of go fish, and so they had set the deck aside.

It was on the tray over Xander's knees. Willow thought for a moment about standing up to retrieve it, but found herself exhausted. She had been tense all day, all week, in fact, it seemed like she had been tense forever. She hadn't done magic in ages, and the constant spark of magical power inside her was hardly bearable with all the anxiety built in. Willow focused hard on the deck of cards and closed her eyes. She allowed every bit of nervousness, anxiety, tension and magic to flow out of her and across the room. She knew she could do this. She could hear Faith's voice inside her, and drew strength from it, the way she used to draw strength from Tara. She still did, in a way. The bit of her, just below her heart that constantly ached for her past love surged, and Willow could feel a steady stream of energy between herself and the deck of cards now. Slowly, the cards lifted off the table and floated towards her. Willow opened her eyes, completely relaxed. At her mental command, the cars began to rustle and shuffle themselves in front of her eyes.

It was right here that Willow realized that she was not using dark magic. The energy flowing through her body now was not addictive, not dark, and not something she felt the need to use all the time. It was in a fraction of a moment that she finally understood. She was connected, like Giles said, to a great power. But she had feared that power, and assumed that it was evil, and that she should stay away form it. But not anymore. She had always had the power of good magic, but had lost it last year, just like she had lost Tara. And now that she had found love again, she had found the connection again.

Faith had paced the Summers residence for an hour. Buffy, Xander and Willow were all gone. She, Dawn and the Potentials had been sitting around feeling worse every second for as long as was bearable.

"Giles." Faith said as the Watcher wandered into the living room, where Faith had her feet up on the table strewn with unsuccessful research attempts.

"Faith, how many times to I have to tell you to keep your feet off that bloody table!" It was clear that Giles just wanted something to say, but Faith dropped her feet to the floor with a thud anyways.

"We can't sit here any more." Faith said. "We're just stewing in our own crappy feelings."

"What do you suggest?" Giles asked. Faith grinned.

Minutes later, Faith was dancing. The music pumped through her as she gyrated to the beat. Potentials were everywhere, shooting pool, dancing, talking, laughing. It was something none of them had done for a long time. Running low on energy and alcohol, Faith moved away from the dance floor. She sat down near Amanda, who was holding a drink. Faith frowned.

"How old are you?" She asked. She was certain that the Potential was not old enough to be drinking. "We're gonna get you a nice Seven-Up, okay?" She took the drink from the Slayer-in-training and downed it in one. She took a breath and stood up. She was going back to the dance floor when she found her way blocked by a group of cops. _Shit._

"You're coming with us." One of them said, and they all grabbed her. Faith allowed them to wrestle her out the door.

"It's cool." She said to the Potentials, who were gathering around, angry. "Cool." She repeated to the cops. They took her outside and slammed the door. That was her cue to take them out.

"Xander?" Willow said, suddenly getting up. Her pack of cards fell to the floor. Xander had just moaned in his sleep and moved. She'd thought that maybe he was awake, but he was just dreaming. Willow sat down on his bed and stared at his face. It was usually crinkled with a smile, eyes sparkling with a new joke he's thought up, hair tousled with an I-don't-care sort of air. None of that was there now. His mouth was slack, his eyes dull and closed. The Xander spark had gone out, and Willow didn't know if it would ever come back. It was now that she finally let her tears fall, making tiny thuds on the scratchy hospital blankets. She reached out to touch the white bandage that was where his eye had been, but couldn't bring herself to pull it back. She didn't want to know what he would look like now. They had fought alongside Buffy for nearly seven years, but it hadn't been until now that one of them bore a scar that would remain forever, a constant reminder of what it had cost them to save the world. Why did it have to be Xander? Xander was the one who deserved it the least. He had always been the one who was good, pure, always there. He never did a single bad thing, and yet it was him, and not Willow, who had killed people, and not Buffy who had threatened all of their lives last year, but sweet, caring Xander who was lying in the hospital. He had taken the punishment for everything they had done.

"Will?" Willow whipped around, wiping her tears away, knowing that it was all too obvious that she had been crying. It was Dawn, standing in the doorway. She seemed to be having a little difficulty standing, and she moved over to a chair and sat down. "Hey. Faith took us to the Bronze."

"That explains the alcohol smell." Willow said, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah. The cops came, though. Tried to take Faith."

"What?"

"She got away. We all helped her. It was a pretty cool fight, till Buffy came and yelled at us."

"It everyone okay?" Willow got up and sat on the other chair, next to Dawn.

"Yeah, yeah. Buffy told me to come over and stay with Xander and the other Potentials that are here. Buffy was pretty mad, though. Especially at Faith."

"Why just Faith?" Willow was getting frustrated again. Just when Buffy seemed to be getting friendly with Faith again, they had to screw everything up.

"It was her idea to take us all there. I don't think Buffy thought it was a good idea. She's been a little—"

"I know." Willow said. They sat in silence for a few minutes until there was a snuffling and Xander sat up. Dawn automatically ran to give him a hug, but Willow got up more slowly. Now it was time to be strong. No more crying, no more sadness, it wasn't allowed. She had to be strong for him. Strong like…strong like an Amazon.

Willow allowed a small smile to play around her lips.

_Author's Note: Please review, guys! I need to know that my writing hasn't gone downhill in the last few chapters, lol. Sorry for the slow moving story in the last little bit. I just don't want it to end too soon. I do have an ending, planned though. I really think you guys will love it. Or at least, I really hope._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Faith spent the rest of the night sitting on the couch in the Summer's living room. After being nagged by Giles over and over again, she had kicked off her shoes and put her sock feet on the table. There was a bruise on her jaw, which was throbbing horribly, thanks to queen Buffy. Faith ran her fingers through her hair. She felt like screaming and raging at the other Slayer ,but had held herself back. She needed things to work out with her and Willow, and if that was going to happen, she had to be friends with big sister Buffy. After a while, Faith rose and wandered toward the kitchen, hoping to find another hot pocket form Andrew's stash, but she bumped into someone before she got there. A step back told her it was Kennedy.

It was a very awkward moment. She and the Potential hadn't spoke for ages. Faith mumbled a sorry and made to go around her, but Kennedy moved to block her path.

"Faith." She said.

"Kennedy." Faith said back. What in the world could the junior slayer want with her? Her question was answered right away.

"I want to talk to you."

"'Bout what?"

"About Willow." Great. Just what Faith needed. Another confrontation from the jealous rich girl.

"I just wanted to say that you won. You got her, and I hope you're happy together." There was still a little bitterness in there, but Faith knew that deep down, Kennedy was pleased that Willow was happy.

"Ummm…thanks." Faith said awkwardly. They stood there for a moment until Faith remembered something. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Dawn…Dawn told me you were one of the first people to step up against the cops to come save me."

"We weren't going to let them beat you to death, were we?" Kennedy was shuffling her feet on the ground, avoiding Faith's gaze.

"Why not? I thought you wanted me dead."

"I did, kind of." The Potential seemed to be having trouble deciding on what she wanted to say. "I mean…you would have done it if it was Buffy, wouldn't you?"

"I…" Faith thought about how much she disliked Buffy, but what if B was being dragged away by cops? Would she have left her there? It didn't take long to decide. "I'd go help her." She said.

"Yeah. You don't much like Buffy, but you look up to her. She's like a big sister." Faith almost flared up in anger, but caught herself. She thought about the last time she had bee in Sunnydale, three years ago. She'd wanted everything Buffy had. Her friends, her Watcher, her boyfriend, everything. Buffy had respect, was liked, was actually a good person. Faith was the complete opposite. She had wanted more than anything to be Buffy.

"I guess so." Faith admitted.

"See?"

"See what?"

"It's like that for me. You're like….you're like a cool big sister, or whatever. You got the girl, you got the Slayer powers, you get to hang out with Buffy and her friends, you actually know what's going on. Faith, you aren't like the rest of us. We're pawns, you're like…I don't' follow chess that well. Anyways, I just wanted to…yeah." Embarrassed, the younger slayer moved away, and Faith, after standing, a little shocked, for a short while, went back to the couch. She had been given too much food for thought to actually want regular food.

She supposed she was glad that she and Kennedy had made peace. She admired the Potential for her maturity, but still kind of hated her. The sudden ringing of the phone pulled Faith away form her thoughts, and she went to get it.

"Yeah?"

"Faith? It's Willow. I'm bringing Xander home, okay?"

"Okay." Faith said. "I'll get everyone to come to the living room. We'll have a party. In the middle of the apocalypse. Maybe not."

"It's okay." Willow said. "I just wanted to let you guys know."

"Okay, see you soon. I love—"

"Kay, see you!" Willow had hung up before Faith could finish her sentence. Was she just in a rush, or did she actually not want to hear that Faith loved her? Faith shook her head to clear it. She didn't have time to moon over this. Xander was on his way, and Faith wanted him to have a nice welcome. She and Xander weren't the best of buds, but she liked the guy, and she thought he deserved to be welcomed by a house full of people.

Willow pulled up on the street next to the Summer's House. Xander's breathing was shallow. She reached out and put a hand on his. He smiled at her, and once again she had to stop herself from crying. Dawn got out first and opened Xander's door for him, and together they all walked up the sidewalk and through the front door.

The first thing Willow saw was the people. She hadn't yet thought about exactly how many girls were living in the house until now, because the room was packed. Buffy and Anya were there, and Giles, and even Principal Wood. The only two people missing were Andrew and Spike, who were still off on their mission to the old church Caleb had visited.

"We didn't have time to do much more." Kennedy said. A few other Potentials pushed an armchair forward for Xander to sit in. Dawn and Willow sat him down. Willow moved over to sit on the arm of the couch near Anya, but Dawn stayed with a hand clinging to Xander's jacket sleeve, as though she didn't want to let him go ever again. There were a few words of welcome here and there, and then Buffy took the floor. She only smiled fondly at Xander for a moment, until she changed gears to Slayer mode.

"I've had an idea. This Caleb guy said he had something of mine. We need to get it, so now I know what we have to do." Faith stared at Buffy with wide eyes. Was she actually going to suggest what Faith thought she was going to suggest? "We have to go back there."

"Or, here's a better plan." Her fury at Buffy had been bubbling for hours, and now seemed a good time to get it out. "How about not."

Willow didn't know who to agree with. In a few seconds, everyone was raging at Buffy. Willow loved her best friend, and hated seeing her attacked like this. Kennedy was halfway through a shouting spree when Willow stepped in.

"Kennedy."

"How can you possibly stand up for her!?" The Potential hollered. Willow looked down at her feet, and then back up at Buffy.

"I'm not."

"What?" From the look on Buffy's face, Willow knew her blow had been really close to the heart. She tried to make her point in a gentler way than everyone else had been doing thus far.

"What with…what with all that's happened, I'm worried about your judgement."

_Author's Note: Hey everybody, now that Chapter 17 is up, this makes Because I Am Empty my longest story ever! yay! anyways, I'm really loking for reviews, so please, pelase send one in. We're nearing the end, so I hope you're all enjoying it._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Willow looked anywhere but Buffy's face for the rest of that evening's conversation. She wholeheartedly agreed with everything everyone said, even Anya, but she couldn't bear to watch the hurt spread across her best friend's face. As soon as Kennedy mentioned letting Faith lead, though, Willow looked up.

"Whoa, hey, _so _not what I meant. I'm not leader material." Faith said automatically. "I just think B needs to chill out a little."

Sadly for Faith, that wasn't how it went. As she watched the blond Slayer leave a few minutes later, a feeling of dread spread over her. She had to lead an army now, and she knew full well that she was the wrong one to be doing it. Faith returned to the living room slowly, everything a little surreal. Within minutes it was chaos. Potentials were talking everywhere, shouting, arguing, arguing about how to argue. Faith was on the arm of the couch, next to Willow. She was getting so overwhelmed she finally just hollered:

"Okay! You know what I think? I think we all need to just…I dunno, sleep on this or something." Most people were on the verge of agreeing when the lights suddenly went out.

"It's gone out on the whole block." Willow said loudly, looking out what was left of the window. There were a few more minutes of panic, and then Willow heard Faith's voice cut over everyone else's.

"Everyone, calm down. We're just gonna have to deal with this tomorrow."

The next morning Spike and Andrew returned form their mission. Andrew sounded like a six year old coming back form his first trip to the zoo. After he got tired of talking and left, Spike took over. Willow barely listened to anything the vampire said. She was far too busy with her own internal battle.

Sometimes, everything seemed so clear. Faith was the girl for her. Next moment, memories of Tara were swarming in her mind, and all she wanted was to be in the witch's arms again. Willow couldn't help feeling horribly disloyal to Tara by simply being in Faith's company, but other times, when Faith's hand was on her knee or something, everything just seemed right. Willow wasn't broken out of her thoughts until the sound of fists on flesh reached her ears. She didn't even know how it happened, but all of a sudden Faith and Spike were at each others' throats. Before she could even react, they had moved into the dining room.

"Damn!" Willow heard Faith snarl as the vampire caught her in the stomach. It didn't take long, though, for the Slayer to get the upper hand. Willow was still trying to figure out what had caused this, and missed what Faith said. Next moment, however, Spike had scooped up his blanket, ripped open the front door, and stormed away.

Willow spent the rest of the day on her laptop. She was pretty certain her eyes were going to fallout of her head from staring at the bright screen for hours. There was hardly anything else on this Caleb guy, and he had no connection to the Slayer line that they could find.

"I give up!" She moaned, clapping her laptop closed and put her head down on the dining room table. Faith reached over and stroked her hair.

"We'll find something soon." She said, but she didn't sound so positive. They had all been repeating those words for the last three hours, but they had never actually found anything.

Willow sat up and ran her fingers through her red hair. Looking around the table told her that she was not the only one who was sick of this. Xander, decked out in his new pirate patch, was staring at a piece of old parchment, eye glassy. Anya was fast asleep, drooling all over pictures of pagan temples and other churches. Only Giles seemed to be holding up. He had the end of his glasses in his mouth and a furrowed brow. A few minutes later Faith got up, muttering something about another hot pocket from the freezer, and left.

"Get me one!" Andrew called, setting aside his fifth juice box. After their raid on the supermarket, he had been eating nonstop. Willow was glad he seemed too tired to keep drinking his juice; the slurping sounds had been drilled into her head and she longed to curse him from under the table. There was a fork near his right hand, and she focused on it. Slowly, she let her energy flow out of her body and into the fork. She used her eyes and brain to lift it off the table and spin it toward Andrew.

"Cut it out!" Andrew cried, trying to snatch the fork out of the air. Willow grinned and moved the fork form side to side, avoiding his flailing hands.

"That's enough." Giles said without even looking up. Willow glanced over at him and the fork fell to the table with a clatter.

Faith returned with a hot pocket on a napkin and took a bite. Andrew watched enviously for a moment before getting up to get his own. In a minute or so, they heard his strangled cry of "You took the last one again!?" No one paid him any attention, and when he slouched back into the room and sat down, pouting, he received little sympathy. Dawn patted his arm.

"There, there." She said in a monotone voice.

Later that night, when they finally came up with enough of a plan to stop researching, Faith and Willow went upstairs together. Willow made to creep across the bedroom floor quietly when she realized there was no one else in the room.

"Where is everyone?" She asked, looking at the usually sleeping bag-strewn floor.

"Not here." Said Faith, shutting the door behind her. Willow grinned.

"That's…nice." She said slowly. Faith was coming closer and closer. Willow put a hand on the Slayer's hip when she was close enough, and drew her in. They kissed for a moment, and then broke apart. Willow was gazing into Faith's brown eyes when she saw something there. Something like fear. "What's wrong?" Willow asked, concerned. Faith shook her head a little.

"Nothing…it's just…ah, nothing."

"You can tell me." Willow said, brushing a strand of long dark hair away form Faith's face.

"It's just…I'm a little new to this."

"What?" Willow said with a giggle she failed to stifle. "Faith, I'm pretty sure you've done this before."

"Well, yeah, but…this is sort of foreign waters if you know what I mean. I mean…there's usually a penis involved."

Willow sort of ruined the moment when she snorted out loud. Even Faith grinned apologetically. Willow managed to control herself and looked back at Faith. They didn't even need words. Willow just wrapped her arms around the woman she loved and kissed her. As they backed towards the bed, the internal battle she had been fighting for ages paused. Right now, just for this moment, just for tonight, there was a clear winner.

_Author's Note: Hope you all liked it! I think you guys have been waiting for the moment when Faith and Willow actually 'got together'. And here it is. Please review, tell me how you liked it! Or how you didn't; whichever works._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The next morning Faith woke up first. She thought about all her past experiences. Usually this was the time that she kicked out the trash bag she'd brought into her apartment, or left at top speed if she was in his place. But today was different she lay, watching Willow sleep for close to an hour. She got up eventually though, but still before Willow had awoken. When Faith went downstairs, Xander and Anya were in the kitchen. Xander was sitting on the counter looking lost in thought, and Anya was putting away a carton of completely melted ice cream. Faith snatched a bag of pretzels form a cupboard and dug in. It was usually best to finish breakfast before the Potentials woke up and swallowed their stores for the week.

Willow woke to find herself alone, but it didn't bother her. She dressed, but didn't go downstairs. She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply. Now that she was by herself, she could continue having the two sides of her heart battling each other. Faith, Tara, Faith, Tara, Faith, it was too much for her. It had been nice for a night to pick a side and stay there, but once again she was back in the middle.

Faith spent the day organizing the slayers-in-training. If they were to launch an underground attack tonight, as they had panned, she wanted everyone equipped and ready to go. She also wanted to know how Buffy was doing, and had sent the other Slayer's three best friends to try to find her. Faith had gathered all of the weapons in the house and placed them out on the floor. She didn't know why she was suddenly so bent on organizing. She supposed it was just nerves. What with images of Willow and everything that had happened last night swimming in her brain, it was very difficult to think about how they all might die tonight. She loaded up everyone with something, and looked through what was left to find something for herself. She dearly wished she still had her Jackal knife. Last time she'd seen it was sticking out of her stomach, and then Buffy had yanked it out. What had B done with it after that battle? She shrugged this away as Giles entered the room.

"All set?" He asked.

"As set as it ever will be." Faith replied. "Thinkin' of joining us?" Giles smiled and shook his head.

"I'd really rather not." He said. Faith grinned.

As nightfall drew in, the adrenaline started pumping. Faith was both nervous and excited, which was good, because most of the Potentials were looking as if they were about to vomit, and they needed a little encouragement. Even the usually spunky Kennedy shook a little as she gripped her crossbow.

"Okay campers!" Faith said at last, clapping her hands. Dawn, who was watching form the sofa, was reminded forcibly of Glory. "Let's get going." Faith ushered all the girls out first, and paused to give Willow a kiss. "See you later, if I don't die." She said. Willow's face hardened.

"That's not funny." The witch said. Faith scuffed her shoes awkwardly.

"Sorry." She said. It was sort of a weird moment, and Faith left quickly, awkwardness being something she wasn't too good at dealing with.

The march to the vineyard was way worse, though. Faith felt like the girl she was with were walking to the gallows, and she was the big guy with the black hood and the axe. She shook this unpleasant idea away and led them on. No one spoke; all that was heard was the rustle of clothing and the clacking of shoes on the ground. Faith watched her own feet, staring at the scuffed, dirty toes of her boots.

"A hell of a lot more practical than B would have been." She muttered. Buffy probably would have led them into battle wearing nine-inch heels and a fabulous ball gown. Faith never really understood why Buffy would wear such impractical clothing to war.

"Faith!" Faith spun around, fists ready, but simply saw all the girls standing several feet back, next to a manhole. "You went right past the sewer access." Kennedy continued.

"Oh." Faith trotted back to them and heaved the manhole cover out of the way.

The trek through the sewers was worse. Faith could hear the rapid breathing of every single girl. After a few minutes the tunnel opened into a cavern.

"Use the flashlights." Faith told the others. She wasn't carrying one; she liked her hands free, but without light she couldn't see anything. Vi switched hers on first and shone it around with shaking hands.

"Some arsenal." Kennedy whispered. The walls were indeed lined with spears and tables carrying swords and knives. Faith picked up a particularly jagged dagger and held it up. With a pang of her heart, she thought of her Jackal knife. Before she could say or do anything, though, she was hit hard from behind, and chaos erupted.

Willow could hardly bear sitting around the house, playing Go Fish with Andrew and Dawn for something to do. She had thought about doing another locator spell to find Buffy, but decided against it. If Buffy didn't want to be found, then there was probably little hope of tracking her.

"Do you haaaaaave any……threes?" Andrew asked, peering over his hand of cards at her.

"Go fish." Willow said without emotion. Andrew did, and when he saw the card he drew, a smile split his face and he paired it off with another card and set it down. "Your turn." He announced at Willow, as if she hadn't learned the rules by now.

"You have any aces?" Willow asked Dawn. Dawn chose one form her hand and passed it over. Willow sighed. This was worse than teaching Anya to play poker. She remembered that evening, it seemed like eons ago.

"Any eights?" Dawn asked Andrew. Andrew shook his head enthusiastically.

"Noooooooo….go fish!" he said it as if it was the most exciting thing in the world. Willow stared at him, reaching out with magic. She'd been practicing magic quite a bit lately. She hadn't done much advanced stuff, like transmutation or conjuring. She was mostly working on telekinesis and emphatic detection, two of the more basic chapters in her favorite witchcraft book. She felt the boy's heartbeat quicken when Andrew told Dawn to go fish.

"Liar." She said with a sly smile.

"What?" Andrew looked stricken. Willow reached out and jerked his cards form his hand and slapped them onto the table.

"You little cheating weasel!" She accused, but she wore a smile. Andrew got extra pouty after that and left the table. Willow was glad to end the game, but now she had nothing to keep her mind off of what Faith and the others could be up to.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Hell yeah." Faith muttered under her breath as Bringers swarmed around her. She'd been itching for a good fight, and now it was here. Unarmed and without a flashlight, she could fight freely. She let herself completely go as she entered the smooth rhythm of the brawl. The sounds of her boots on flesh and her hands clenched around black cloak as she threw the first unconscious Bringer form herself. He knocked down two others. Faith managed to grab his knife as he fell. The shining edge of the blade was sharp, and the leather straps wrapped around the handle provided excellent grip. She swished it this way and that as she fought, slashing her enemies and whirling around them with practiced ease. All at once, when she was enjoying herself, the sound stopped. A last few bodies fell to the ground, and Faith was pleased to see that none of them were her girls.

"Well damn." Rona breathed; the spear in her hand was jammed into a Bringer's stomach, and she let go of it and he fell to the ground with a wet sort of crunch.

"Faith!" Kennedy was standing near a large chest. "Looks like we found the booty."

Faith bumped fists with her as she went by, and gave her a little smile. "Looks like." She said, breaking the lock easily. She eased the door of the chest opening. She thought she heard beeping of some kind.

"Willow!" Willow heard Giles' holler and leaped off her bed. She'd been reading one of her books on witchcraft when she heard him. "Xander!" Giles called out. When Willow reached the top of the stairs she saw that Xander had gotten there first, and he and Giles were maneuvering a limp form through the door. Willow dashed down the stairs, leaping the last four and stumbling a little when she recognized the dark hair.

"Faith!" She breathed. Potentials were streaming in after them, some carrying others. Anya and Andrew had already been called, and were laying out blankets and pillows for the girls to lay the victims on. Willow moved aside to let Giles and Xander pass with Faith, and made to follow them, but caught sight of someone who had just walked in after everyone. It was Buffy, and she was carrying a weapon like Willow had never seen before. Willow stopped midstep. Go to Buffy, or follow Faith? She looked back at her best friend, who was wearing a sort of 'just do it' look.

"Go to her." The Slayer said. Willow's eyes filled with tears of gratitude, and she followed her lover upstairs.

Faith had never had a better rest, even when she was in a coma, for that sleep had been plagued with dreams of a blonde monster coming to destroy her and her life, starting with the man whom she had loved as a father. This sleep was entirely dreamless, and when she finally awoke, it was to a comfortable bed, and the view of Willow holding her hand. Of course, directly after it came the horrible pain, but she knew she would heal. She always healed.

"Hey you." Willow said, in a voice that was a little choked.

"Hey." Faith moaned a little.

"You look great." Willow said with a weak sarcastic smile. The corner of Faith's mouth curled up a little.

"Ouch." She said, and quickly stopped smiling.

"Are you okay? With the pain and everything?" Willow asked.

"Yeah." Faith said. "I just wish I could leave my body for a little bit. Go visit the netherworlds or whatever while I heal so I don't have to sit here unable to move for a couple days."

"Like astral projection!" Willow said. Suddenly, a frown creased her eyebrows.

"What?" Faith asked.

"Astral projection…" Willow muttered quietly. "I have to go. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go on." Faith watched her go, wondering what had suddenly struck the witch's mind.

Shortly after this, Buffy came to take Willow's place, though without the hand holding. Willow went to help tend to the hurt, and Buffy showed Faith the nifty new weapon she'd brought home. After examining it for a little while, Faith finally said to Buffy:

"I screwed up. Big time. Bigger and time-y-er than you did."

"People do that sometimes." Buffy's eyes were forgiving.

"Are you coming back?" Faith asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know." Buffy hesitated. "Do you want me back?"

"Well, see how far my leadership's gotten us, B. I'm pretty sure you've always been the smarty pants leader gal." Buffy nodded slowly, and then suddenly looked over at Faith like she was just noticing something.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because…I don't know. We have a history, you know? And I just…I want it to go away. Plus, you know Willow? Sweet girl. It's a little hard not to pick up some of her spirit when you hang with her."

"I know what you mean." Buffy said. After a moment of silence, but the good kind, not the tense kind, Buffy looked over at Faith again. "Do we hug now?" Faith laughed, and then coughed. It hurt to laugh, but she could take the pain.

"I don't know. I can't really sit up. It would be a little awkward."

"We'll wait on it, then."

Willow blinked against the harsh white light of her computer screen. She had been scouring Google for over an hour. It had taken time, but she had finally thought of something. Her internal battle had reached a point where it felt like a sword was going to shoot out of her heart and puncture her from within. She had sat down to research astral projection and connections to other worlds. She had no clue how her idea had come to her. It was almost as if it had struck her from…beyond. Willow gave a wry smile, thinking hard. It was a very difficult concept, what she was thinking of, but she was certain that if there was a ways to do it, she was going to at least try it. She kept coming back to the thought that something had come to her from beyond, and if the beyond could contact her, surely she could contact the beyond.

_Author's Note: Oooh, what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen? Please review with thoughts! If I like your ideas better than mine, I might just use 'em._


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Willow?" Willow clacked the lid of her laptop shut. It had become a reflex whenever someone walked into the room while she was working, except for when it was Faith. She was the only one who knew. But right now it was Giles who had interrupted her.

"Nothing." Willow answered him before he had asked. "I haven't found anything on the scythe." The magical Slayer scythe was lying a few feet away on the bed with books strewn all around it. They'd been searching for hours. Or at least, Giles had. Willow had been doing something else, researching something he wouldn't approve of.

Faith forced herself to get out of bed. She was not going to lay around like some lazy idiot while everyone else was preparing for war. She dressed quickly, and dragged a comb through her hair until it looked good enough. When she reached the kitchen, Andrew was waiting eagerly by the microwave as a hot pocket spun slowly inside of it. As the microwave beeped to a stop, Faith shoved Andrew out of the way and took the hot pocket out of the microwave. Something about picking on Andrew was just fun. Faith wasn't an awful person anymore, but to see the little blond dude's eyes spark with pathetic fury and his lips pout somehow made her day better.

"What do we got?" Faith plopped onto the sofa and propped her sock feet on the table. She was talking to Dawn, Xander and Buffy, who were both reading books among the injured Potentials. Andrew and Anya had gone to the hospital for supplies, and most of the girls seemed better off, and just needed rest.

"So far?" Xander asked. "We have a good chunk of jack, and even more squat."

"Great." Faith said. She didn't feel like studying right now, but she could hear the sound of Giles coming back downstairs after checking with Willow, so she picked up a nearby book and opened it at random.

"Faith, if I have to tell you to put your feet down once more, I will personally cut them off." The Brit said as he tugged the book out of her hands and shooed her off the couch. "Why don't you go help with the girls' training?"

"Will do, captain." Faith said. She didn't much like being bossed around, but she would much rather be training with the girls than flipping through musty pages of ancient tomes.

Faith assumed the girls were outside, and she was right. The Summers had a good sized backyard, and the Potentials were scattered here and there, some sparring, some talking, some hefting swords or axes.

"Hey, ladies!" Faith called out, jumping off the porch. "I want y'all to pay attention to this." She looked around. Every eye was on her now, and she settled her own gaze on a small, shy redhead nearby. "Vi." She said. "C'mere."

"Yeah?" Vi said in a small voice as she stepped forward. Faith knew this girl was going to need to toughen the hell up if she was going to make it through this.

"Hit me." Faith said to her.

"What?"

"Hit me. As hard as you can. Come on, it won't hurt me." She watched as Vi drew back and arm and punched her on the shoulder, fairly lightly. "Ohhhh-kay." Faith said. "I think we need a demonstration here." Her eyes scanned the girls gathered all around until they fell on one girl who Faith knew would at least attempt to kick her ass, no matter how civil they were acting to each other now. "Kennedy."

The dark-eyed Potential came forward eagerly, and Vi cleared off, leaving a large area to spar. "Take me out, man." Faith said. Kennedy did not hesitate, but dashed in much quicker than Faith had been expecting. Faith felt the knuckled of Kennedy's left hand hit her cheek, and her right hand sink into her gut almost right after. Faith stumbled backwards, and Kennedy aimed a high kick at her head. Faith caught the girl's foot with practiced ease and made to flip her upwards. If it had been Buffy she'd been fighting, Faith wouldn't dare do that, because she knew B was a pretty good gymnast. Kennedy, on the other hand, fell clumsily backwards and landed in a heap.

"Damn." She hissed. She'd clearly been looking to get the better of Faith. _Not likely._

"Good. That was good." Faith said. She did not offer her hand to help her up, because she knew Kennedy would never take it. "Rona. You next."

"Go get Faith." Willow heard Buffy's voice out in the hall, and slammed her computer shut again. She had researched to scythe a little more, and had found a weapons website. Giles had pointed out one of the axes listed, and rushed to look something up, and then tell Buffy. Now Buffy poked her head in the door.

"What's up?" Willow asked.

"We think we've figured something out. Xander's getting Faith, we're gonna have a Scoobie meeting." Willow jumped up at once. It had been ages since they'd had an actual 'Scoobie meeting'.

"So…what do you think?" Buffy asked after nearly a half-hour of her explaining her idea. Everyone said they agreed, even Willow, but she had a sick feeling in her stomach. If she was so busy doing this spell Buffy had asked her of, when was she going to get a chance to do what she, Willow, had been planning? This scythe spell would drain her for a day, maybe two, and she would have to wait to recharge for ages before she could attempt her own plan, which also required tons of magical energy to do alone.

"It is beaucoup de mojo." Faith said. "I think it's a killer plan, but Will…this is probably double anything she's ever done, right?"

"Double…" Willow's brain was almost making sound it was whirring so fast. "Yeah." Once again, something Faith said had given her an idea. Once the meeting was dismissed, Willow dashed back to her computer and opened Google as fast as she could. Typing so fast she had to go back twice to fix mistakes, in the search bar she typed: _'two spells at once'_.

_Author's Note: We're nearing the end, readers! Two, maybe three more chapters left. I don't want to go too fast, or it'll be over, but if the story is starting to move far too slowly, let me know. Please, please review!!!_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Hey Will."

"Bwah!" Willow jumped and shut the lid of her laptop quickly. She hadn't heard faith come up behind her. Faith laughed a little and drew up a chair beside her at the desk.

"What'cha doin'?"

"Just, uh, preparing for the spell I have to do tomorrow." Well, that wasn't exactly a lie, because she _was _preparing for a spell that she _was _going to do tomorrow. Faith arched an eyebrow.

"You weren't really researching 'Slayer essence' on there." She motioned toward the computer. Willow shot it a guilty glance, like she and her Macbook had been talking about things they shouldn't have been. "Come on, what're you plotting? You've been up here for two days straight." After a long silence, Willow took a breath.

"You said something, well, two things, actually, that got me thinking."

"I said something?" Faith asked, surprised. She wasn't usually the one to pull a master plan out of nowhere.

"Yes. You mentioned astral projection."

"So what?"

"I've been…I'm trying to…I want…" She tried a few more times, but always trailed off.

"Spit it out, Willow!" Faith was literally sitting on the edge of her seat. Willow feared a little for her balance. She shut her eyes and clenched her fists and spat it out in one big sentence.

"I'vebeenlookingforawaytocontactTara."

It took Faith nearly a full minute to grasp what Willow had just said. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it wasn't this. When she finally found her voice again, it still took her two tries to speak.

"Um." She wheezed, voice croaky. "Will…Tara's…Tara's…she's not here…anymore."

"I know." Willow said quickly. Her voice was a little choked, like she was thinking about something that would make her cry. "I just…I can sense something. I know that I can get to her. Astral projection" She pointed at Faith. "You gave me the idea to astral project myself. I'm going to find her."

"Are you going to…umm…bring her back?" Faith looked down at her lap, hands twisting. As much as she wanted Willow to be happy, she knew that with the presence of Tara, Willow would not be with Faith anymore.

Willow took a long time answering. "I don't know. I don't know if I can, and I don't know if she would come." She was voicing something she'd worried about for days. What if, somehow, she found a way to bring Tara back? Would the love of her life even want to come?

"But…" Faith cast around for a different subject. Or at least, a slightly different topic. "That's pretty advanced, right? How are you gonna pull this? When?"

"I think I've figured it out." Willow said, letting out a breath, glad to be talking about something other than Tara's possible resurrection. She opened her laptop. "To make this work , I'm gonna have to be in deep into magic land." She paused. "Sorry, that reminded me of candyland. Anyways, I'll already need the power flowing. That's why I'm going to do it tomorrow, at the same time as I do the Slayer spell thing."

"Uhuh…" Faith still couldn't wrap her mind around it all the way. "What if…what if it goes wrong?" She knew she'd be in the thick of the fighting, and Willow would be stationed somewhere safe for magic central.

"It won't." Willow sounded so certain that those two words were almost enough of an explanation. "Astral projection was the spell that brought Tara and I…together. It was when we were doing that spell that I realized that I was in love with her. She'll protect me." Faith nodded slowly. She was feeling happy for Willow, yet sad for their relationship, and a little jealous of Tara.

"Willow?" That was Dawn calling. "C'mere a sec. We're going over stuff for…tomorrow." Willow got up. Faith remained sitting. Willow looked down at her.

"Faith." She said. She now realized she was being a little tactless, getting into this relationship with Faith and then telling her all about her plans to get back together with Tara. She reached down and took the Slayer's hand. Faith looked up. Brown eyes met hazel eyes, and they went downstairs together.

"So here's the sitch." Buffy was standing in the centre of the living room. Xander was in an armchair, and Anya was perched on the arm. Dawn was in a chair by the phone, and Giles was leaning against the mantelpiece. Andrew was sprawled on the floor near the couch, where Robin was sitting. Willow and Faith sat on the rest of the couch just as Spike came up from the basement and leaned against the doorframe. "You all know what's going to happen. Willow, how's the spell coming?"

"It's fine. I've got it. I can do it." Willow said steadily. Buffy nodded.

"But I still want someone with you. Faith's gonna be fighting, but I still want someone there, in case…"

"Kennedy." Faith said quietly.

"What?" Buffy said, not quite catching it.

"Kennedy." Faith said louder. "Kennedy's one of the strongest Potentials." She also knew that Kennedy was the last person Willow would try something with. _What am I thinking? _Faith shook her head to clear it. Did she think Willow was going to be unfaithful just because she wanted to see Tara? Faith mentally scolded herself. She had no idea what she was feeling right now. She'd always been the unfaithful one in the relationships, but all of a sudden, she was the clingy girlfriend! Or was that even true? Was she overreacting?

"Good, so it's settled." Buffy's voice snapped Faith out of her thoughts. She hadn't heard Willow agree with her, or the conversation move on to other things. The meeting seemed to be adjured now. Buffy was heading out the door, saying something about a crypt. Everyone else slowly dispersed, and after a few minutes Faith saw Spike follow Buffy out the door.

"Are you nervous?" Willow asked. Neither she nor Faith had any intention of sleeping, so they were sitting on the floor of their room with their backs against the wall, snoring Potentials strewn around them . "I—sorry, stupid question." Faith laughed a little.

"What?" Willow asked. "When did the funny start?"

"I didn't it's just I can totally tell you're doing that thing with your eyebrows again. Your voice. I can just tell." She reached over to Willow's face and felt the skin in between her eyebrows. "Yup. All creasy."

"Stop it!" Willow giggled, swatting her hand away.

"Mmmmake me." Faith poked Willow in the stomach.

"No, I'm ticklish!" Willow struggled away.

"I know. It wouldn't be fun if you weren't!"

"Oh my God!" Rona sat up in her sleeping bag. "Would you two just shut up!?"

_Author's Note: One chapter left, gentle viewers! Please review!_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"This could be it…" Willow muttered at her computer screen. Faith was downstairs with the other girls, and she was alone, sprawled among the twenty or so sleeping bags strewn across the floor. Tapping her fingers on the mousepad and the keyboard, she navigated from site to site, crossing information, leaning over and flipping a page in a book every now and then. Slowly, as the facts began to come together, she allowed a grin to seep from her lips and spread across her face. She could see her reflection in the computer screen and was reminded horribly of Cassie Newman pretending to be The First, that one night in the UC Sunnydale library. She adjusted her smile so it was less creepy, clapped her Macbook shut and nearly bounced from the room.

"Morning." Dawn said as Willow entered the kitchen. Dawn's hands were wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. Willow fixed herself her own mug, marvelling at the fact that the air in here was so calm, as if it was just a regular day. A few minutes later, as she went into the living room to join everyone else, the atmosphere shifted. The temperature nearly dropped literally. Girls were all over, pale and shaking, or else chatting away, trying to pretend like nothing was happening. Buffy was handing Amanda a baseball bat that had been sharpened into a point.

"Next." The blonde Slayer said wearily. Rona was next, and Buffy handed her a battle axe, something she could easily use with one arm.

"Good morning sunshines!" Xander sidled into the room, beaming. Willow was used to his attitude in dire situations, but the Potenials merely glared at him. Xander clapped his hands together. "Who's ready for some good ol' fightin' to the death?"

"I am." Robin Wood had just come in the front door. He was wearing regular clothes, but he had weapons attached to his body: a sword in his hand, ninja stars and throwing knives in a belt around his waist.

"How did you look walking down the street with that?" Willow asked as the principal hefted his broadsword onto his shoulder.

"Like I'm ready for a fight." Robin said. "No one's out there, anyway. The town is empty."

"Where's Spike?" Buffy asked, handing the last Potential a couple of stakes. She left the room, and they could hear her footsteps into the basement, it was so quiet. They then heard voices: hers and Spikes. They were muffled, but as the Slayer and vampire came back upstairs, the army in the living room could hear what they were saying.

"I look like a pontz." That was Spike.

"We're going to save the _world!_" Buffy scolded him. "Who cares what you look like?"

"I do!" Spike snapped back at her as they came into the room. Spike was pulling a necklace with a very large diamond dangling from it. With a sigh, he looked up at everyone gathered together. "Okay, girlies." His eyes cast over Xander and Andrew, but he did not rephrase. "We ready to do this?"

"Welcome to Sunnydale High." Principal Wood called over his shoulder. The Potentials streamed behind him, and Faith was just behind them with Willow. All the Slayers in training carried weapons, but Faith's hands were empty. She was never one to hide behind weapons, except her Jackal Knife, but since she couldn't arm herself with it, she chose to have nothing. Willow, on the other hand, was carrying a duffel bag packed with everything she would need for her spell.

As they went over their plan of action for what felt like the umpteenth time, Faith could almost hear the adrenaline in her veins begin to pulse more quickly. She was itching for a good brawl, and now the time had come. Spike and the other Potentials set off down the hallway, having been dismissed by B. Faith turned to Willow. They didn't say anything, but Faith kissed her and turned to Kennedy, the only Potential that would join the battle late, as she was going to be with Willow.

"Take care of my girl." She told the young slayer, holding out her fist.

"I always do." Kennedy said, bumping her knuckles with Faith's. She then took Willow's bag and entered Principal Wood's office. Faith looked deep into Willow's hazel eyes, which were almost blank with fear or nerves, Faith couldn't tell. The Slayer kissed the witch once more and set off after Spike and the other girls, wondering if that was the last time her lips would ever meet Willow's. Faith wasn't completely sure about Willow's plans, but a part of her desperately hoped the spell would malfunction, so Faith could be with Willow forever.

The trek down to the seal didn't take long, she just followed everyone else's footprints on the dusty basement floor. Faith could practically smell the fear radiating from the other girls as they took their places around the seal. Vi handed her a small knife, but Faith did nothing with it until Buffy came in and completed the circle.

"You first, B."

Willow finished lighting her candles for the third time. She kept shaking and extinguishing her matches by accident. She blew out the match she was holding and tossed it aside. Grabbing the scythe, she placed it inside the half-ring of candles, the blade clattering on the floor from her quaking hands. She looked up at Kennedy, who was kneeling on the other side of the room.

"Brace yourself." Willow said, more to herself than Kennedy. She wasn't sure whether or not she should warn the Potential that if her hair went black, she might have to run her sword through the witch's chest. She decided against it and placed her palms on the scythe in front of her. She closed her eyes and focussed her energy on the scythe and the Slayer legend, but the words she whispered were form and entirely different spell. They were, in fact, form the most intense spell she had ever performed, a little over three years ago. "The inward eye, the sightless sea, Ayala flows through the river in me."

After a few minutes of repeating these words, she was certain that neither spell was going to work. Then, all of a sudden, she felt such an extreme power surge through her that her breath caught in her chest. This energy, this power, was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was pure, stronger than any power she'd thought she'd had. Willow only had time to hiss three nearly breathless words before she lost consciousness.

"Oh. My. Goddess." There was a rushing wind, and a massive flash of white light that obscured her vision entirely, and Willow knew no more.

_Author's Note: Due to popular demand, it looks like there's gonna be one more chapter! And maybe an epilogue. It depends how long I can keep this story going. We shall see………..review with opinions!_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Willow had no clue where she was, but she knew she wanted to stay there forever. She was lying on a cool, hard surface, but the air was warm, and was being stirred gently by the softest breeze imaginable. Willow shut her eyes tighter, just wanting to curl up here forever. After a few moments, though, here eyes flickered open. They took a moment to adjust. Lifting her head up, she could see that she was no longer in the Sunndydale High Principal's Office. She sat up and dusted off her clothes, getting a better lok at her surroundings.

There was a heavy mist in the air, except for a ten foot radius all around her that was perfectly clear. She looked down at the floor, but it was obscured by mist. The odd thing was that the fog in this air seemed to be weightless, rather than the humid, heavy mist she was used to in Southern California. She stood up, brushing her hair out of her eyes, trying to see past the foggy walls here. She didn't recognize the landscape, but she did know that she was safe here, and that there were no demons lurking just out of her vision, waiting to ambush her. However, there was a figure there. Willow could see it moving towards her through the fog. As it grew closer, the edges grew sharper and she could make out the shape of a human. Not just any human, but—

"Tara?"

"Damn." Faith breathed, as the Ubervamps swarmed over the edge. She was ready, and a smile spread on her face as she swooped into the steady movements of a brawl. The one that attacked her had a sword, so she caught his arm as he swung it at her and ripped the weapon out of his hand and used it to take off his head. She had a moment to look around and see Vi suddenly take a deep breath, like something had rushed through her. Faith remembered the feeling. Willow had succeeded! But what about her other spell? She didn't have time to dwell on this, though: Uervamps were spilling over the cliff at them; there were a lot more than Faith had thought there would be. "What the hell." She muttered. "Welcome to the hornet's nest."

Willow was speechless and breathless. She seemed to have lost the ability to move, but as her one and only love stepped into the clearer air, she managed to stumble a few paces forward. "Tara?" She managed to gasp again. She was hardly daring to believe it. Her heart was swelling inside of her chest, thudding ever faster. She wanted nothing more than to sprint at her and hold her, kiss her, stay in her arms forever, and as a slightly lopsided smile fell across Tara's lips, Willow was certain it was her, and not some mirage this strange world had cooked up to torment her.

Tara had never looked more beautiful. She was wearing a flowing white gown that fell to the ground, her hair that was the magical colour between brown and blonde was loose around her face, which was perfect in every single way. Willow stumbled a few more steps, and then finally regained her ability to walk. She dashed towards Tara, who opened her arms, ready for her.

For a fleeting moment, Willow was terrified that she might just run right through Tara, but it was too late to stop, and Willow didn't care. She wrapped her arms more tightly around Tara than she ever had before. She held the dead witch to her, kissing her lips over and over again. Tara was holding her face, neither woman letting go. The world fell away from them, and all Willow felt was Tara's waist in her hands, Tara's hair in her fingers; they were locked together in what felt like an eternal embrace.

"Augh!" Faith howled as a Turok-Han got the better of her and gave her a sharp jab to the throat. Unable to breathe, Faith couldn't respond in time, and the primal vampire picked her up by the shoulders and leaned in to bite her neck. Faith drew her head back and slammed her forehead into the Turok's nose. Head spinning, Faith felt herself drop. Her vision was blurred, but she kept low and spun, knocking the vamp's feet out form under him. Once he was on the ground, she staked him with a stake one of the other girls had dropped. Flushed with her success, as she always was when that happened, Faith stood to find three more Turok-Han gathering around her. "Bring it on, chumps." She said, gritting her teeth and getting in her battle stance. Weight easily shiftable, she spun, whirled and jumped around them until one, two, three, all of them were dust in the wind.

When they finally broke apart, the fire inside Willow flared up, screaming and screaming never to let go. She kept a tight hold on both of Tara's hands, determined never to let her be taken away again. Tara returned the pressure, but she gazed with such intensity into Willow's eyes that it was difficult to keep even this far apart.

"Willow." Tara said. Willow closed her eyes, drinking in the sound of her voice, the smell of her hair, every micro second of her time here was pure pleasure, but there was an urgency in Tara's voice that brought her eyes open. "You do not have much time here."

"What?" Willow found her voice. "What do you mean? I won't go back, I don't need to go back, I can stay here."

"You don't belong here." Tara's voice was soft, but full of wisdom and power far beyond her years.

"Then you can come back with me!"

"My darling Willow." Tara reached out and looped a strand of red hair behind her girlfriend's ear. "I do not belong on your plane anymore. I am always in your heart."

"_Always!" _Willow insisted, as if just saying it made it true. But this talk of her plane made her think of Faith. Tara seemed to read her mind, because she suddenly got a knowing look on her face. She knew of Willow's internal struggle, and of everything her lover was feeling. "What do I do!?" Willow burst out, all her sadness and frustration bubbled out in the form of tears. The tug-of-war she'd been having with herself had been putting more stress on her than she'd even known. Willow looked down, tears falling form her face and into the mist that swirled on the ground.

"I told you what to do over three years ago." Tara said, cupping her hand under Willow's chin and lifting it so they were staring deep into each other's eyes, seeing the tears that were swimming in both women's vision. "Do what makes you happy."

"Don't back down!" Faith could hear Buffy's voice over the sounds of the battle. "Drive them to the edge, we can't—" Suddenly her voice was cut off. Faith couldn't see what had done it, but she knew it wasn't a good sign. She shoved and staked and fought her way over to where she'd thought Buffy's voice had been coming from.

"Buffy!" She yelled, as she spotted the limp blonde form on the ground. The crouched down to meet the other Slayer as Buffy lifted her head, and her left hand, which held the scythe.

"Hold…the line." Buffy wheezed. Faith nodded and took the weapon in her hands.

_Author's Note: I literally can't stop! I was certain there was going to be 23 chapters, but now we're looking at a minimum of 25! Review!_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"_You _make me happy!" Willow insisted, tears leaking from her eyes. Tara's eyes were also glistening with tears, but, unlike Willow, her voice was steady.

"No." She said, placing a hand on Willow's cheek. "I can't. Not anymore."

"But…Tara…" Even saying her name caused her to break down entirely. Tara took her in a tight hug and Willow sobbed into the shoulder of her beautiful white gown. Shaking and heaving, Willow tried to get herself under control. "I need you." She managed, in barely more than a whisper.

"And I'm with you." Tara said, stroking her hair. "Always. We can't be together, but I'm a part of you now."

"No!" Willow said shakily. "We should have been forever."

"And we are." They broke apart and Tara looked deep into Willow's large, hazel eyes. "I'm always with you, but you must be with who makes you happy."

"And who's that supposed, to be, if I can't have you?" Willow said, her voice a little stronger. Tara smiled her gorgeous crooked smile ad kissed Willow again. She leaned into her lover's ear and whispered:

"I think you already know." Willow suddenly felt the sensation of being in a car moving backwards. She knew in a moment that she was leaving. She tried to scream, but found she had no voice. With every ounce of her strength, she clung to Tara's arms, but as she left, she was pulled form her body. The last thing she felt was Tara's soft, warm hands in hers, before their fingers slipped apart.

"No!" Faith growled, almost animal like. She had the scythe in her hands, but the large weapon, though she knew the Slayer was supposed to use it, felt awkward in her hands. As Turok-Han vampires gathered around her and all came at her at once, dragging her to the ground, Faith knew that this weapon…Buffy's weapon…was never meant for the dark Slayer to wield. With her final ounce of strength, she hollered "Rona!" and fired the scythe into the air. The Ubervamps had fistfuls of her hair and clothes. She felt one bite into her forearm, but could hardly move to defend herself. Claws raked her cheek, and she felt something warm dribble down her face. She drew breath to scream for help, but stopped herself just in time.

She was Faith. She did not cry for assistance. She was a warrior, a fighter, a killer. Faith was no quitter, and her power was far beyond that of the low dogs that swarmed over her like flies. With a very primal sounding war cry, she brought her arms and legs in to her chest and held the position. Thinking she had given up, the Turok-Han all went in for a taste, but she exploded outwards, shoving them all away fro her. She heard two roar as they fell over the edge of the cliff. Quick as lightning, Faith place her palms beside her head, drew her legs in, and sprung up in time to deliver a bone-shattering roundhouse kick to the head of an oncoming vamp. She turned around to see Buffy on her feet, slashing away at anything that moved. A grin spread across her face again, until she heard a shout form behind her. She whipped around in time to see something explode out of Spike's chest.

When Willow felt her essence join with her body again, she did not move. She simply lay on the floor, thinking. Her tears had dried as she'd been taken back across the fold, and strangely, she felt no desire to cry again. The massive black, empty place that had been inside her since Tara's death was gone, filled with love from and for Tara. Her dead girlfriend was with her now, she could tell. Willow stood up slowly, relishing the warm, fuzzy feeling inside of her chest, until a single thought hit her so hard she almost fell back down.

"Faith!" She said loudly. At the exact same time, a burst of light came up through the floor, narrowly missing her. She jumped backwards in surprise. She wanted to look down and see where it was coming from, but through the hole she could hear screams and yells.

"Spike!" Willow thought it was Buffy's voice. She hoped Buffy wasn't about to go endangering her life to save the vampire.

"Everybody out, NOW!" That voice was unmistakeable.

"Faith!" She screamed at the hole, but the woman she loved couldn't hear her.

"Go, go, go!" Faith barked at the girls, making sure every single one of them was out before she ducked under the beam coming from Spike's amulet and started up the stairs herself. She turned around to check that Buffy was with her, but saw that the blonde Slayer was standing beside Spike, her fingers twined with his. "Buffy!" She shouted. Buffy looked up; Faith could see the tears sparkling in her eyes. A large block of stone fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Faith's head. She had no choice but to keep running up, hoping Buffy would follow before the building came down entirely. She sprinted through the dusty basement, and flew up the stairs to the main floor.

The vision here was just as bad; dust and ash filled the air, and pieces of the building were raining down upon her. She could not see any of the girls or the people who were stationed upstairs. But they did not matter to her right now. All she wanted was to find Willow. She did not care that maybe Tara was back, or that Willow did not wish to be with Faith any longer. As she ran full tilt down the hall to the principal's office, time seemed to slow down. The dust was awful in here, but Faith thought she could see the outline of a figure through it. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but she ran harder, arms pumping, ripped jacket nearly hanging off her.

Willow shook Kennedy away. The new Slayer was trying to pull her outside, but Willow refused to go until she saw Faith. As she stood, eyes squinted against the thick air; she spotted something coming towards her. As the figure drew nearer, just like Tara had on the Other Side, Willow began to make out the shape and the style of movement of it. She did not say anything, for she knew Faith was coming to her. As her foggy shape began to clear, Willow's heart began to pound so loud she could almost hear it over the sound of the High School coming down around them. Suddenly, Faith burst from the clouds of dust and vampire ash, and next thing Willow knew, she was kissing her harder than she ever had before. Willow wrapped her arms around Faith's lean body, clutching her as close as possible. It was almost like an apocalypse on every side, but neither woman cared, for all that mattered was each other, and they knew they would be safe, as long as they were in each other's arms.

_Author's Note: there it is, gentle viewers. The end of a tale that was thrilling to write, and I am very grateful for any feedback I have been sent, or any left to come. It's been a great journey writing Because I Am Empty, and it would make my day if every single person to finish it would send me feedback, thoughts, reviews, anything at all. Also, if any of you have Buffyverse, Dollverse or Potterverse stories you'd like to see up here, just let me know and maybe I'll write them! I want to thank everyone who finished this; who stuck with me all the way to the end._


	26. Author's Message

_THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER_

_But, I hope you read it anyway!_

_Hi there, fan fiction readers! I know I have 42 people on alert for this story, so I hope all 42 of you will read through this and send me your opinion._

_So, this story, Because I Am Empty is my favourite of all my stories, my most successful one, and was a complete joy to write. I finished it a long time ago, but looking back on it, I realized that I would really like to continue working with this plot._

_What do you guys think? A sequel? a prequel? What would you like to see for the plot? Or do you think that I should just leave this where it is and not wreck it by going any further. Anyway, please review this chapter with thoughts, or send me a private message if you'd prefer to do it that way. Thanks again for all your support during the writing of this story!_

_-Kelsey_


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